220,000 Years
by volian
Summary: [AU] There's not a person for miles around to hear your screams. You're all alone...but for him. Multichaptered, KaoruHikaru. [6 of ?]
1. Pro 1 : ONE

220,000 YEARS  
_fanfic by volly  
ouran high school host club (c) bisco hatori_

...

Prologue (1) : ONE

"Oh, hell no."

"Why not? It'd look so nice on you! And we're supposed to be representative of Japan, aren't we? What clothes scream 'Japan!' more loudly than--"

"Tamaki, it'd be a cold day in hell before you'll persuade me to wear one of those ugly--horrifying--grotesque--"

He couldn't even call it a kimono. He couldn't even find the right adjective to properly describe its monstrosity. He eyed the thing in all its frilly glory, amazed that it could even exist without spontaneously combusting with its sheer sparkliness. Exactly how many yards of lace was on that thing? He didn't know that it was even possible to fit that many sequins on a single dress.

Tamaki smirked at him, a gesture of pure and undiluted malice. "Oh, really? A cold day in hell, hmm?" He stalked even closer to his victim, brandishing the robe in an undeniably threatening manner as he withdrew a few photographs from his pocket. "Would these be able to change your mind, my dear?"

Golden eyes widened in horrified recognition at the sight of the incriminating images. He made a desperate swipe for the items, but Tamaki danced easily out of the way, shaking his head pityingly at the other's vain attempt. "If you don't cooperate, hun, you just might find these photos in the claws of a certain cousin of ours. We wouldn't like that, now, would we?"

Oh, damn.

...

There was now snow in hell.

"Stop scowling so much, bro, it's really unbecoming of you. And don't chew on your lip like that, you're ruining your lipstick." Tamaki tried unsuccessfully to control his laugh as he patted his unfortunate companion on the shoulder. "Did I say bro? I meant sis, of course."

"Tamaki, I'm going to kill you when this is over, I swear. They'll never even find your body--"

"What's that, sis? Hissing death threats under your breath now, are you?" Tamaki whipped out the photographs once again, neatly sidestepping another frantic grab and clicking his tongue as he prodded his brother's leg with a toe, blue eyes glimmering with amusement. "You might want to be more cooperative, princess. Make Daddy happy. Stick around as a girl for--oh, let's say a day, that really isn't so long--and Renge will never find these pictures, capiche?"

"I hate you so goddamn much, Tamaki."

The blond man quirked a brow at his younger brother, who finally growled and admitted defeat. "Fine, alright, okay, whatever. Just--don't give those to Renge, I'll do anything--"

Tamaki beamed and ruffled his victim's silky red locks. "Well now, that wasn't so hard, was it?"

The other man just averted his face, burning with embarrassment. The day just couldn't pass quickly enough.

...

_author's notes_ - hello, i'm new to both this fandom and this ship. :D but ouran plotbunnies have already been gnawing at my brain so i wrote this fic. it's going to be multichapter, and i've actually got a pretty well-developed plot in mind, so hopefully if i don't run out of steam i'll actually finish one of my multichaptered fics for once.

and yes, it's a stupid title, i know, but i had absolutely no idea of what to put in there. there's a reason for the name, though i won't reveal it for a few chapters yet. ;D 


	2. Pro 2 : AND THE OTHER

220,000 YEARS  
_fanfic by volly  
ouran high school host club (c) bisco hatori_

...

Prologue (2) : AND THE OTHER

He stared into the mirror, winced, and looked away.

It was irrational, really. What normal person would be scared of a mirror? Everyone used one. The only reasons why he got away with not doing so was because of his casual job and natural beauty. Oh, it sounded narcissistic, but everyone knew that he was one of the select few men who could pull off stylish bedheads any day.

But it wasn't as if he'd know that by himself. He avoided mirrors like the plague, to the point that he nearly forgot what exactly he looked like. It was irrational, he told himself, shaking his head pityingly and tucking a few stray bangs behind an ear. Completely irrational, and yet...

He glanced up, yet again, to the godforsaken looking glass. A redheaded young man with catlike yellow eyes gazed hesitantly back, and he felt his heart sink as he was overwhelmed with a wave of loss and sadness. No, it wasn't him. Strikingly similar as the two were, his reflection and himself were not the same. There was something different in the way the man in the mirror held his head, something heartbreakingly nostalgic in his smile, something more secretive and guarded in his golden eyes.

He'd heard of doppelgängers. However, this one had stuck around for as long as he could remember, and nothing out of the ordinary had happened...yet. It didn't really do much at all, really, apart from mirroring his movements like a good little reflection ought to. But every time he glanced into those amber eyes he felt odd, like there was something missing, like he was a halfway finished puzzle looking at the missing pieces...

A crack suddenly materialized on the glass's smooth surface, and the redheaded man was dimly aware of acute pain and droplets of something warm and sticky dripping down his knuckles. He grimaced as he heard his sister call from downstairs.

"Hey, bro, you done punching that mirror yet? C'mon, it's almost time already."

Sometimes Haruhi's sense of perception scared him. He shouted back some sort of reply before washing his hand, watching the red stains of blood spiral down into the drain and out of sight.

With a last glance at the broken glass--great, a bad omen on top of everything else, he really needed this--he stalked out of the bathroom and grabbed the bags sitting on his bed, putting the man in the mirror firmly out of mind. He had more important things to concern himself with, anyways.

...

"Well, here we are."

Haruhi's comment was answered by a noncommital grunt. She glanced up at her older brother, who was busy shoving their baggage into the overhead bins. After finishing this task, he slumped down into the seat next to his sister's before pulling out a pair of headphones from his backpack and sliding them over his ears. He closed his eyes and allowed himself to relax, for a little while, as the music flowed over him.

Those golden eyes then blinked open as small hands pulled the headphones away. The redheaded man turned to his younger sister with an irritated glare. "Hey, what's the big deal?"

Haruhi just smiled mellowly as she fished out an mp3 player from inside her companion's jacket. "I could ask the same of you, really. And personal electronics are supposed to be shut down during takeoff, you know."

"No, I wouldn't know, I've only been on a plane once--before today, that is--and that was when I was just a kid, anyways." He scowled, but the ever-serene expression on Haruhi's face made his frown falter for a bit.

"Are you worried about something?"

"What? No," he snapped, very quickly. Too quickly. The dark-haired girl raised a brow in questioning, and couldn't help but smile as her brother sighed and looked away. "Alright, fine. You got me. I'm worried, I guess."

"What about?"

"What about, sis? There're plenty of things to worry about. For one thing, I haven't been back in Japan for years. I probably speak Japanese like some goddamn foreigner now. The other kids'll probably poke some fun at me for that, and if I break too many jaws I'll get expelled. Which reminds me--the school. There're so many things that could go wrong with school. What if I'm not good enough to stay there? What if I can't read any of the books? What if the family we're staying with hates us? What if--"

Haruhi placed a finger to the man's lips, effectively silencing him as he paused momentarily for breath in the middle of his rant. "You worry too much. Don't think about it. Everything'll be fine, mmkay?"

"Yeah...sure," he seemed to have noticed that his uncharacteristically rambly soliloquy had turned quite a few heads his direction, and he sent a few heated glares at some of the more amused-looking onlookers before turning to bury his face into Haruhi's shoulder. He didn't tend to worry often, really, but when it happened he could get embarrassingly talkative. "Sometimes I really admire your cool, Haruhi."

The younger girl just grinned and affectionately patted her brother's rumpled red hair.

...

_author's notes_ - i'm trying to keep the brothers' identities secret, if you haven't figured that out yet. :D can you guess who is who? (it's pretty obvious, in my opinion, but meh.) 


	3. Ch 1 : STANDING NEXT TO

220,000 YEARS  
_fanfic by volly  
ouran high school host club (c) bisco hatori_

...

Chapter 1 : STANDING NEXT TO

The good news: he'd managed to get rid of the majority of the sequins and frills, and the dress now at least slightly resembled a kimono.

The bad news: he was still stuck as a girl for the day.

Suoh Kaoru ran a hand distractedly through his carefully-conditioned hair, scowling as his fingers caught on some hairpins in their path. He tugged the ornaments free from his bangs, but reluctantly replaced them when Tamaki looked his way.

He really didn't deserve this, did he?

The last passenger boarded the plane, toting a wheeled backpack that clattered noisily through the door before settling into a murmuring purr on the smooth floor. Kaoru smiled blandly at the traveler, who gave him an odd look in return before moving on. With a shrug, the cross-dressing man shut the latch and on cue Tamaki's cheerful voice rang through the intercom.

"_Konichiwa_! Welcome to Air Japan. We hope your flight will be convenient and enjoyable. If you ever need help with anything, please feel free to call one of our flight attendants by pressing the red button on your armrest..."

Kaoru allowed himself to tune out the rest of Tamaki's speech and gazed idly out the window instead. The airplane rumbled to life and started to back out of the gate, moving to thread adeptly through the crowd of other vehicle and make its way to the runway.

Belatedly he realized one of the other stewardesses was waving at him, and he pushed himself off his seat to join her. She handed him the few props needed in their demonstration, and he gave the items a careless look-over before walking out to the aisle.

"...Seat belts must be worn during takeoff, landing, and whenever the captain turns on the 'fasten seat belt' sign. We recommend, however, that you wear seat belts when seated, even if the plane is maintaining a smooth flight. To fasten your seat belt, insert the head of the right end into the buckle, and tighten it by pulling on the loose strap..."

Kaoru wrapped the belt around his waist, fastening it before tugging heavily on the free end and drawing scattered laughter from the voyagers as he mimed choking. He could practically feel Tamaki's glare at his back, and fancied that a note of disapproval crept into his brother's voice as the lecture continued.

"...In the event of an emergency, air masks will automatically drop down from the overhead compartments. Place the cup over your nose and mouth, and slip the elastic band around your head. If you have a child or a younger sibling, help yourself before providing aid, if necessary..."

Here Kaoru flailed in panic, clutching his throat in a suddenly oxygen-less environment, before pulling on a mask and a look of dramatic relief. There was more laughter now from the crowd, and he couldn't help but drop the act momentarily and allow a shameless grin to tug at his thin lips.

"...In the event of a water landing, life vests are located in the small compartment underneath your seat. Pull them over your head and tighten the loose straps, if necessary. Inflate the life jacket by pulling on the yellow tabs on the bottom, or by blowing into the yellow tubes..."

He continued to play along with every step, exaggerating his actions and basking in his audience's approval. Acting came easily to him, and he enjoyed every minute of it. He loved it, really. He loved the crowd, their every chuckle and clap and whoop. A few of the more perverted teenagers whistled as Kaoru took Tamaki's words a bit too literally and proceeded to "blow" the yellow tube, holding the object gingerly with slender fingers as he lazily caressed its rubbery surface with his tongue.

"...In all, we wish you a safe and comfortable trip on Air Japan. _Arigatou_!"

With a little bow and a last cheeky wink at the passengers, Kaoru excused himself and slipped behind the curtain, out of sight. There he resumed his previous seat on the cramped little stools reserved for the flight attendants' use. Ah, that was fun. It at least helped him take his mind off of being a girl, for one thing. Acting was definitely one of the few major loves of his life, and as the airplane's soft growls intensified to a roar he was reminded of another.

Flying. From what Tamaki told him--Kaoru never really remembered much of his youth anyways--he'd loved the idea of flight ever since he was just a kid. Birds, dragonflies, helicopters--anything that had wings had enchanted and delighted him. He had wanted to be a pilot for as long as he could remember; it'd been one of those stereotypical childhood dreams, like being a cowboy or an astronaut, but it'd never really faded away.

Right now, the closest thing he could get was being a flight attendant, but he knew someday he'd reach his goal.

He could feel the airplane pick up speed, to the point that it was all ready to lift off from the ground and break free of gravity...when suddenly Tamaki burst into view, a scowl marring his handsome features. "Kaoru, what the hell were you doing?"

The cross dresser in question just smirked and batted his eyes coquettishly. He was getting scarily good at this girl thing. "Oh, just giving them a show."

...

"The little girl in seat 25B wants a 7-Up."

Tamaki spoke to a red haired young lady donned in a rather extravagant dress. She continued to pick at her nails and gaze idly out the window to the field of rolling clouds beyond, seemingly oblivious to the nasty looks the Frenchman was shooting her. Said Frenchman coughed loudly, and the flight attendant finally looked up with a start, as if just realizing his presence. She pushed herself off of her perch and fetched the soda from a cooler before walking briskly down the aisle, her yellow eyes downcast and half-lidded with unveiled boredom.

Those eyes then flared open in outrage as the stewardess detected a very unwelcome invasion of personal space. She whirled, slapping away the hand that had dared to pat her delectable bum, glaring daggers at the owner of said hand, a shifty-looking man with a lewd leer. The offender's grin only widened as he captured his victim's attention; his eyes roved appreciatively up and down her body as his tongue poked out momentarily to wet his lips in a decidedly obscene gesture. "Why, sorry about that, miss. You wouldn't hold it again me if I said you had a nice--"

He was interrupted, however, not by a slap to the face or a kick to the shins, but by a polite tap to the shoulder and a soft "Hey," from behind. He blinked once before glancing back over his shoulder, to where a young man draped himself over the top of his seat, staring with baleful catlike eyes.

"Hey, lay off the lady, man. Chivalry isn't quite as dead as you think."

The message was delivered casually, and in an almost friendly manner. But there was something steely glinting in those honey-hued eyes, something subtly threatening in his smooth, clipped voice. The offender opened his mouth, as if to growl a retort, but seemed to think better of it and slumped back into his seat, his gaze flickering from one pair of golden eyes to the other. He gave an irritated snort and motioned for the flight attendant to carry on her way. She did so, but not without a grateful look and a "Thanks," to her savior.

Fujioka Hikaru's lips curled into a satisfied smirk as he slid back into his own sear, pulling his favored headphones back on and ignoring the look of amusement his sister shot his way. He didn't like to think of himself as a ladies' man, but he couldn't blame others from pinning that label on him. And if there was one thing he hated, it was seeing a pretty girl being harassed. And he had to admit, that stewardess was quite the looker...

He noticed that Haruhi's lips were moving and so he turned down the volume of the music. "Wait, what?"

"I was saying, didn't you notice anything strange about that flight attendant?" Haruhi repeated, with a cryptic sort of smile.

"Er." Her flat stomach? Her long legs? Her cherry lips? "No?"

Haruhi gave him a rather pitying look, as if she knew exactly what sort of thoughts were bouncing around his head. She probably did, Hikaru reflected wryly. His sister had an uncanny knack for reading people like open books.

"Well," she said, in the sort of voice a mother would use when explaining one and one made two to a child, "He's a guy, for one thing."

Her brother blinked, before removing his headphones and tugging a bit on his ears. "Excuse me, I think the air pressure's messing with my ears again. I didn't quite catch that, can you repeat it?"

She ignored him, and went on. "Didn't you notice? I mean, it's rather obvious."

"It is?" Hikaru asked rather weakly.

"I should think so. I mean, women usually don't have such toned arms, right? Also, didn't you see his name tag? Kaoru's definitely a male name. And his hips were too narrow--women have more of an hourglass shape." Haruhi made a wavy motion with her hands, as if outlining some sort of curvy gourd. She was rather red in the face, though that was understandable. Haruhi wasn't the most feminine girl around, especially with her boyishly-cut short hair, and she was often mistaken for a male.

The two siblings' closeness also led others to believe that they were boyfriends, which was also...mortifying, to say the least.

"Well...he's done a damn good job posing as I woman, I suppose. Sure fooled me," Hikaru chuckled.

"Heh. I could tell," Haruhi grinned back, a bit hesitantly. "But, Hikaru, didn't you notice, also...?"

"What?"

"He looks just like you."

Okay, he didn't see that one coming at all. "I don't look like a girl."

"He's a guy, bro."

"Oh, yeah..."

"Anyways, I'm rather surprised you didn't notice. Maybe it's his thick makeup or something. But his facial structure's almost identical to yours." Haruhi reached out delicately to run her cool fingertips over Hikaru's face. "His nose, his lips, his chin, his collarbones...he looks so much like you, it's scary. Haven't you taken a look at yourself in the mir--" She stopped herself as she watched a shadow cross her brother's face. She'd forgotten how much he hated mirrors.

Hikaru forced a lighthearted laugh. "Oh, yeah. Well, seeing how I practically forgot what exactly I looked like myself, you can't blame me for not noticing some stranger with my face, eh?"

"Hey, I didn't mean--" But her brother had already put on his headphones again and turned up the volume on his music player so loudly she could hear the bass rhythm of the song thrumming on her armrest. Haruhi glanced apologetically at Hikaru's face, but his eyes were shut as he feigned sleep.

Haruhi loved her big brother, she really did. Even though Hikaru threw grumpy fits like a five year old, they always made up sooner or later. They were inseparable, really. But Haruhi was an observant woman, and she knew despite their close bond, Hikaru was lacking something, and it was that intangible absence that caused so many of his depressed moods.

Despite everything, Haruhi knew she'd always be there for her older brother...however dysfunctional he may be.

There were three hours to go until their destination at Tokyo, Japan. The flight attendants had just distributed the customary little packets of salted peanuts, and Haruhi was just opening hers when she felt a piteous stare boring into her head. She turned to see Hikaru look wistfully at her snack, before flicking his gaze apologetically up to her face.

"Sorry."

She smiled. "No problem."

"So...can I have your peanuts?"

She paused to consider this, but only for a moment. "Yeah, go ahead, take it."

Hikaru's face lit up into a grin that she couldn't help but return. She loved her brother's smiles, they were always so infectious. He never smiled enough--though his various sneers and smirks were common enough--and it broke her heart.

...

"Dude, that guy looks exactly like you."

Kaoru quirked an eyebrow and threw an amused look at his brother. "Since when did you start using the word 'dude', Tamaki?"

"Hey, it's American. So am I. And all the kids over there seem to think it's a very catchy phrase, anyways," Tamaki returned defensively, a crooked grin on his face. "I have to keep up with the times, bro."

The two flight attendants smiled and waved mechanically as travelers filed out the plane. Kaoru's movements were a bit strained--Tamaki had forced him to run little errands for the whole of the ten-hour trip, and he was just about ready to collapse from exhaustion and pure humiliation. His makeup probably looked horrific and his wig was askew, but he really couldn't muster up the energy to care. His day as a girl was almost over, anyways, and he couldn't wait until the last second ticked over so that he could rip off the goddamn kimono already and give Tamaki a taste of the hell he'd been force-fed...

"But don't change the subject, bro," Tamaki said, waking the redhead from his violent daydreams. "What about that look-alike, hmm? Got a boyfriend, by the looks of it. Weird-looking, though. Almost like a little lady."

Said look-alike was currently standing patiently in the line congested by a passenger ten rows ahead, who was struggling to get his baggage down. He kept shooting looks at Kaoru when he thought he wasn't being watched, and averted his gaze when Kaoru glanced his way. "I really don't think we look that alike at all," Kaoru lied. "Oh, sure, there might be a few similarities, but that's probably just coincidence. He's a pretty nice guy, though."

"Really?"

"Yeah. He told off some bastard who tried to cop a feel." The bag had finally been pulled down and traffic was flowing smoothly again, Kaoru noted dimly.

"Oh...sorry about that," Tamaki smiled sheepishly, and Kaoru heaved a dramatic sigh.

"Yeah, well, I suppose it's something all girls go through..."

"Hey, shut up, here he is," Tamaki hissed, elbowing his younger brother in the ribs and plastering on his usual, sunny smile.

Hikaru cast a suspicious eye over the two flight attendants. He had a feeling that they were talking about him, but maybe he was just being paranoid. He swept past the blond--Suoh Tamaki, from the look of his name tag--and came to a stop in front of Kaoru. Yes, Haruhi was right, they did look rather similar, and they'd probably look even more identical if Kaoru'd wipe off all that blush and mascara...but, at the same time, there were so many subtle differences Hikaru had to wonder...

"Hey." Kaoru was smiling at him, almost expectantly, and Hikaru found himself running a blank on what to say. What could he say, really? "Who are you and what the hell are you doing with my face?" probably wouldn't go over too well...

"Uh, nice dress."

Kaoru blinked--that was certainly unexpected. He recovered fairly quickly, however, and slapped on a smile that made Hikaru think briefly back to the mirror he had shattered just yesterday morning. "Why, thanks."

As Hikaru walked out the gate, he couldn't help but replay the scene again and again in his mind's eye. What was he thinking, "nice dress"? Where the hell did he come up with that?

Haruhi placed her small hand on his arm--she was still far too short to comfortably reach up to his shoulder. "Couldn't think of what to say, huh?"

"Something like that."

"Going to worry too much about it?"

Hikaru glanced down into his sister's eyes, large with concern. He chuckled and looked out the large, open windows of the airport. Japan was waiting, with clear skies outside that promised a beautiful day, and when he glanced back over his shoulder Kaoru had already disappeared.

"Nah. It's not like we're going to see each other again, is it?"

...

_author's notes_ - chapter one, finally. have a feeling that future chapters'll take longer to write, though, i was just feeling inspired with this one. and i am aware that i'm abusing adjectives. :C

congrats to those who guessed kaoru on the first prologue and hikaru on the second. :D 


	4. Ch 2 : SAND IN SHOES

220,000 YEARS  
_fanfic by volly  
ouran high school host club (c) bisco hatori_

...

Chapter 2: SAND IN SHOES

There were several reasons why Kaoru hated the beach. For one thing, he always got sunburned too easily. For another, he always got sand in his shoes.

And lastly, because Tamaki loved the goddamn place.

"Cheer up, bro! Our next flight isn't for two days, at least, so let's relax while we can, hmm?" the Frenchman looped an arm affectionately around his little brother's neck and beamed at the scene around him. "Japan's beaches are so beautiful, aren't they? And...mm, so are Japan's girls..." he cast an appreciative look at all the bikini-clad femmes around them, flashing a charming smile at those who returned his gaze with interest. "Hey, Kaoru, check out--"

"Not interested," Kaoru cut him off, spreading a beach towel on the sand and opening up a large umbrella, angling it so that his seat was thoroughly shrouded in shade. "Go ahead and chase your girls, bro. I'm not interested." He'd never been much of a romantic, never even shown as much as a true hint of curiosity for the prettiest of women. It was one of the causes for many misleading rumors.

Tamaki opened his mouth, a gay jibe perfectly formed on the tip of his tongue--"So how about the guys, then? There're plenty, take your pick..."--but there was a metallic quality to Kaoru's smile and a slightly deranged-looking tic twitching in one cheek that made him reconsider. Go ahead, his body language seemed to challenge, go ahead and try it, if you dare.

"Uh...I think I'll just...go over there, now..." Tamaki mumbled, slinking off. His brother could be all too scary at times.

Kaoru gave a self-satisfied smirk and lay carefully down on the cloth, opening up his backpack to pull out a book. Well, maybe this trip wouldn't be too unbearable after all, if his annoying brother continued to stay out of the way. Let the kids enjoy the icy waves and the blazing sun and all of the shamelessly frequent displays of skimpy swimsuits. He'd content himself any day with the shadow, the occasional balm of ocean breeze and the pages of Defoe's novel...

Someone tripped over his legs and Kaoru looked irritably up from Robinson Crusoe to shoot the offender a vexed glare. "You oaf, watch where you're going..."

The person picked himself up from the ground, pushing wet red licks of hair away from his face and fixing Kaoru with a gaze he found only in mirrors. Two pairs of yellow eyes blinked in startled unison.

"Hey, you're--"

"--Kaoru, right?" the other finished, his lips stretching in a strangely familiar smirk. Kaoru nodded, feeling a bit bewildered. How'd he know his name?

"It said so on your name tag, back on the plane," the look-alike supplied, in response to Kaoru's unasked question. He extended a hand. "I'm Hikaru. Sorry about that, man."

"No problem, I guess." Kaoru found himself saying as he scrutinized Hikaru curiously. The other man was clad in only swim trunks, showing off his slim body and long limbs. If Kaoru didn't know better, he'd think he was looking in a mirror. "Man, we're almost identical, aren't we?"

"Heh, looks like it. I didn't really think so at first, though, what with your girl getup and all."

"Shut up," Kaoru growled, but Hikaru only laughed.

"Hey, that was a compliment. You made a hot lady, seriously." Another smirk.

"Oh, like that makes it any better," Kaoru muttered. A change of topic would be appreciated right about now. His wandering gaze landed upon a bucket swinging from Hikaru's fist, which piqued his interest enough for him to ask, "Hey, what's that?"

Hikaru followed his gaze and jiggled the container a bit, causing some of the seawater inside to slosh out over the edges and onto the ground. "Oh, I'm making a sand castle, want to help?"

"A sand castle?" Kaoru repeated, arching a brow. Hikaru looked about his age, which was to say about 21 or so, and he was still building sand castles? The other man caught his incredulous stare, but simply chuckled in response.

"Yeah, a sand castle. You've gotta take time off for some of the simpler joys of life, don't you think? C'mere." And with that, Hikaru grabbed Kaoru's wrist and tugged him forcibly to his feet. Robinson Crusoe dropped to the ground--Kaoru hoped vaguely that sand wouldn't get between the pages, it'd be a real pain to remove.

"What about my stuff?"

A laugh. "Oh, don't worry about that, it's not as if someone's going to steal it, right?"

Kaoru wanted to say something scathing in return, but Hikaru was pulling him through the sandbar and it was all he could do to narrowly avoid colliding into the random scantily-dressed beach babe or tripping over all the random pairs of bare legs that were sprawled over the place. Hikaru was grinning at him and it was as bright as the sun. Wait, where'd that come from? Since when did he start using such cliché comparisons? There was absolutely no connection, really, between that blinding smile and the horrible source of all his sunburns, but for some reason the phrase was so fitting.

He was jolted out of his very confusing thoughts when Hikaru abruptly came to a stop, causing his victim to nearly bowl him over with the momentum. "Well, what d'you think?" With an expectant grin, he stepped back to reveal his work of art.

And Kaoru just stared in awe.

It'd be an understatement to say that Hikaru was proud of the thing, from the fond look on his face, but Kaoru honestly couldn't blame him. The palace was about a foot high, and was comprised of a tall central spire surrounded by shorter citadels and hints of suburbs. The details on the structure were amazing--Hikaru must've picked away at the towers' walls with a toothpick to carve out those windows engraved in the sandy surface. He'd scavenged bits of shell, also, to line the lip of each fort. He'd even tied blades of grass to popsicle sticks to serve as little flags, and placed these adornments in a semicircle around the whole area.

Kaoru couldn't help but think back to the days he'd built his own sand castles--the lumpy, misshapen structures of a bored child--and just grinned weakly. "Wow. It's pretty awesome already, in my opinion."

Hikaru frowned. "You're only seeing half the story is why." He gestured to the other side of the palace, which looked like nothing more than Kaoru's memory of his homely works. "I need some help with this side. For some reason it's not coming out right, whatever I do."

"Well, if you think asking a random cross dressing flight attendant would help, I guess you're pretty desperate," Kaoru quipped. "I must warn you, I have absolutely no skill in sand castle building whatsoever. You might be better off fixing this thing on your own."

"Oh, don't be so pessimistic," Hikaru admonished, with a challenging smirk. "I hate to be cliché, but you never know what you can do until you try, right?"

Kaoru was nonplussed. It wasn't every day some mysterious passenger spirited him away on a beach only to demand help building a sand castle, of all things, after all. He dug his hands into the warm sand anyways and attempted to work, but by the end of a minute he still had nothing to show for his efforts but a shapeless lump. Hikaru glanced up from where he was still busy with the half-finished portion of his palace.

"Well, I guess that's a start," he commented, tilting his head to one side, as if trying to see whether the sad mound looked more aesthetic from a certain angle. "Y'know, it kinda looks like an...island, or something." He slid over to sit by Kaoru's side, his swift hands already moving, rubbing off some excess sand from the steeper inclines and making the island more gently sloping. There was a look of concentration in his amber eyes that made them far too intense. His thumbs were carving little waves out of the surrounding sand, but they paused when Kaoru spoke up again.

"So, you an architect or something?"

"Huh? No." A chuckle, as Hikaru's gaze flickered back to his incomplete sand structure. "I guess it kinda looks like it, though. I study medicine, actually--I'm a transfer student here and I'm doing research on some of the more 'traditional' Japan healing methods. Herbs and stuff like that. I'd like to be an architect, though, I've always liked designing things..." he drifted off again, poking his tongue out a bit between thin lips as he formed ridges of mountains, pushing together layers of wet sand, shaping the landscape like an all-powerful god constructing a new world. Kaoru continued to watch, a bit mesmerized.

"Anyways, how about you? You done with your studies already? Or are you serving in some transvestite bar in your spare time?"

"Man, quit it already with the cross dressing thing, will you? I was forced into it, it wasn't as if I had a choice." Kaoru traced out an airplane in the sand, halfheartedly.

"Really? Were you blackmailed or something?" The palace seemed to have been totally forgotten as Hikaru focused on the island, his hands running confidently over the miniature landmass. There was a stretch he'd seemed to mark out as a beach, Kaoru noted, that he'd smoothed down into a gradual slope, with faint lines of tides carved into the sides.

"As a matter of fact, I was."

"What with?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Kaoru teased, making the outline of his plane bolder and tentatively carving out the surrounding sand. "I don't really want to talk about it, actually."

"Well, I guess I'm not gonna force it out of you or anything. Must've been bad, though, for you to agree to put on a kimono as girly as that one."

"It was bad, all right," Kaoru winced theatrically at the mere memory, biting back a smirk as he watched Hikaru shoot him a look of unmistakable interest, his curiosity obviously piqued. The strange thing, Kaoru realized, was that he might not actually mind all that much, telling Hikaru about that incident. Odd, but even though they'd met just ten minutes ago, he felt so comfortable lounging around with the other man, and his presence was so familiar, like they'd known each other for years.

"So, do I get a story now? I like stories."

"What are you, a kid?" Kaoru laughed at Hikaru's mock pout. "Oh, fine, I'll tell you. Well, back in high school, my brother Tamaki founded a host club. We all became quite close-knit, and once in a while we'd hold a reunion to catch up on things with each other."

"Host club?" Hikaru asked.

Kaoru grinned and ran a hand sheepishly through his hair. "Yeah, a host club. They're pretty popular over here in Japan, and it turned out that the girls in America can be quite the otakus as well. What we do in the club is...entertain the ladies, basically." It was an outrageous euphemism, but his listener bought it anyways.

"Ah," Hikaru nodded. He seemed to have built a volcano on the island, Kaoru noted, and was currently busy digging out a craggy crater at the peak. "Continue?"

And Kaoru obliged. "Several months ago Tamaki thought it'd be nice to have a little get together at New Year's. It was fun, but then some idiot broke out a box of tequila and that was basically when things went downhill. I'm a bit of a lightweight. I don't really drink much because of my job as flight attendant, and it's just too easy to get airsick when you're hungover. But I remember getting really stoned back then. All of us did, really--it was New Year's, after all. One of my friends, Mori, is a very affectionate drunk, even more so than when he's sleepy. He and I had a...romp, nothing sexual, just overly suggestive. Tamaki took pictures and, poof, perfect blackmail material. Normally I wouldn't really mind about the photos, everyone knows Mori and I are just friends and I'm not gay, but I have this amazing cousin who'd do the most horrific things with stuff like that..."

"Oh? Like what?" Hikaru stared openly at his storyteller, so caught up in the narrative that he didn't seem to notice that half of his crater had just caved in.

"My cuz Renge is the craziest fangirl you'll ever meet. Especially for BL stuff--boys' love," Kaoru explained, catching his acquaintance's puzzled look. "If she meets a hot guy, she'll automatically run off to look for another hot guy to pair him up with. She's that insane. One time someone sent her a picture of Tamaki hugging me, and she drew this outrageous BL doujinshi starring the two of us. Ruined my reputation back in high school, everyone kept thinking I was an incestuous gay freak and everything...so of course, Tamaki threatens to send the photos of Mori and me to her if I don't put on that ridiculous dress to completely humiliate me on my first international flight."

"He sounds pretty evil," Hikaru quipped, but there was a lewd smirk on his face. "Though I've gotta admit, he's got good taste."

"Pervert!" Kaoru cuffed the other man's ear, but he was grinning as well. "Well, I guess I kinda deserved it, actually."

"For what?"

"Uh, exchanging all his boxers for lingerie?"

A long blink. "Now why'd you do something like that for?"

"Hey, he was the one who put shaving cream in my shoes!"

"Why'd he do that?"

"Because I put super glue in his hair gel?"

"Why?"

"He flushed my new $100 razor down the toilet."

"Why?"

"I shaved Beelzenef."

A sigh. "And why was that?"

"Because the damn cat was shedding all over my clothes already," Kaoru growled. "And I just thought that if Tamaki wasn't going to give the mangy fuzzball a haircut, someone ought to, right?"

Hikaru chuckled and reached over to ruffle Kaoru's russet hair. "You're a maniac, aren't you? I like that, though, you're quite amusing."

"I'm so glad you find my misfortunes funny," Kaoru said sarcastically, but he couldn't resist leaning slightly into the touch. A part of him wondered what the hell he was doing, practically spilling out his whole life story for someone who, despite his friendliness, was still a complete stranger. Not to mention he was letting said stranger stroke his hair like he was some sort of show dog--he was probably getting sand on his scalp and it'd take a long time to properly wash it free again, too--yet he couldn't help but think that if he had a tail he'd be wagging it like crazy right now. Besides, he reasoned, if Hikaru was an utter stranger, it didn't hurt to talk with him. He always had to remind himself that there was more to life than pilot studies and steward duties and pranking Tamaki anyways.

"Hikaru!" a cheerful voice broke into his thoughts, and he noticed with some disappointment that the hand in his hair was gone. Hikaru was standing up, beaming and embracing the lanky young lad who had suddenly shown up.

"Hey, Kaoru! Come over and meet my sister, won't you?"

Ah, make that a young lady, then. Kaoru felt his lips stretch into that easy, flirtatious smile he'd employed so often back in the the host club so many years ago. He hefted himself to his feet, dusting off some grains of sand still clinging to his palms before offering it to the shorter girl. "Pleasure to meet you, miss--?"

"Haruhi," the girl answered with a blithe smile. "Just Haruhi, please. Ah, you're that stewardess from our flight, right? Kaoru, isn't it?" her gaze slid from Hikaru to Kaoru and back again. "You two look so alike!"

"Oh?" Kaoru allowed himself to look the girl over as well. Haruhi was modestly dressed in a baggy t-shirt and beige shorts. Her boyish hair and washboard chest did a good job at concealing her femininity. Yet when he compared Haruhi's large round eyes to Hikaru's narrower ones, Haruhi's brown irises to Hikaru's gold, Haruhi's dark hair to Hikaru's red...he laughed, scratching his neck sheepishly. "Well, Haruhi, if you'll excuse me for saying so, you and your brother don't look very alike at all."

"That's understandable," Haruhi said, while her sibling slung an arm fondly over her shoulders. "He's adopted, after all."

Kaoru felt his grin freeze. Haruhi didn't seem to notice, as she'd turned to confront her sibling. "Hey, there's an ice cream truck a block away, do you want to get some? Your friend can come, too! It's really hot."

"Yeah, I'm scorching," Hikaru arched a brow at Kaoru. He seemed to be acting rather oddly..."Hey, Kao, want to come?"

"Oh...sure. Yeah, ice cream sounds great." It wasn't until the three of them had started off on their way that Kaoru suddenly noticed something. "Wait, what did you just call me?"

"Kao. Why?" Hikaru just chuckled at the dirty look Kaoru threw him. "You're Japanese, right? Would you prefer it if I called you Kao-chan instead?"

"What makes you think you're above me?" Kaoru asked, rather miffed.

"Well, just how old are you?"

"21, thanks very much."

"Oh, so am I. Well, I was born in June, how about you?"

"I was too! Look, that's not the point, just what makes you think--"

Haruhi cut off their banter with a jubilant, "We're here! What flavor would you guys like?" They had stopped in front of a small ice cream truck, where a short blond boy was busy serving the chilled sweets to a group of customers standing in line. Hikaru peered at the faded stickers on the truck's flanks and fell silent as he examined each variety.

"These kinds are sure different from what we have over in America," he commented idly. "Ah, well, I'll just make a random pick. I'm sure none of them are too horrible." He closed his eyes before making a wild stab at a picture. "Alright, then, I suppose it'll be the peanut butter and sesame green bean cup. Wow, what a mouthful."

"Hey, they have bubble teas here," Haruhi exclaimed happily. "I love these things. I'll get strawberry, those're my favorite. Kaoru, what about you?"

"Oh, I'll just get a popsicle. Those lemon ones look fine." Kaoru fished in his pockets for his wallet, but Hikaru caught his wrist.

"Lemme treat, mmkay?"

"No, it's all right, I've got money--"

"Come on," Hikaru fairly whined, gently pulling Kaoru's hand out his pocket, clasping it in his own. "We're friends, aren't we?"

"Yeah, I guess," Kaoru said hesitantly, but Hikaru's wide grin made him reluctantly give in. Friends? He'd never found it this simple to make friends before. As a matter of fact, his only lasting friends were the other members of the host club, which he was forced to join in the first place. He'd never found it easy to relax around others--with the possible exception of pretty girls, and Tamaki--and he wondered when was the last time he had such an effortless conversation with a stranger.

"We'd like a strawberry bubble tea, a lemon popsicle, and a peanut butter and sesame green bean cup, please." It was finally their turn at the window, and Haruhi was ordering their ice creams, exchanging sunny smiles with the blond boy at the counter.

"'Kay, coming right up!" he chirruped, bustling around the vehicle, withdrawing the two ice creams from a cooler and reaching over to hand them respectfully to their owners. His brown eyes widened upon catching sight of Hikaru. "Kaoru? 'S that you?"

"What?" Hikaru blinked once in confusion, before jerking a thumb over his shoulder to his look-alike. "The name's Hikaru, kid, Kaoru's right behind me. You two know each other?"

"Honey!" Kaoru beamed upon recognizing his fellow host. "It's nice to see you again! I never knew you took up a job as an ice cream man. Weren't you studying at the Yamashina Institute at Akibo?"

"I still am. This is just a sort of part time job," Honey explained, pouring frozen strawberries into a blender for Haruhi's smoothie. "Besides, it's summer and I didn't sign up for any programs over break. I was actually planning to visit Takashi over in Alaska, my flight's in about a week. You've been taking international flights now, huh? D'you think you'll be there for mine?"

Haruhi and Hikaru looked on awkwardly as Kaoru chatted pleasantly with his old friend. It was only until Honey finished making Haruhi's drink that Kaoru seemed to realize he hadn't properly introduced them.

"You guys, this is my friend Honey. He was a host with me in high school." Kaoru took a casual lick of his popsicle and Hikaru found himself strangely distracted by the curve of his tongue, until Haruhi elbowed her brother hard in the ribs. "Honey, this is Hikaru and Haruhi. They're friends of mine."

"Nice to meet you," Haruhi said amicably, sucking on her straw. "Wow, this is an amazing tea."

"Thanks!" Honey replied cheerfully, but his thoughtful gaze lingered on Hikaru. "Sorry for confusing you, Hikaru! But, man, you two look so alike! Are you guys relatives? Kaoru, you never said anything about this back in the host club." His voice took on a mock-accusing tone, but Hikaru felt uneasy. Honey's eyes, a dark shade of sienna, were as big as a child's, but his stare was still faintly intimidating for some strange reason.

Kaoru sighed. "Yeah, I've been getting that a lot. But Tamaki's my only brother, alright? Hikaru's just an acquaintance, really, I've just met him today--it's probably just coincidence that we look alike, right?"

"Alike, Kaoru?" Honey repeated incredulously. "You two--you're near identical! Here, take a look--" he reached out the window to grab ahold of the truck's wing mirror, twisting it over so that the four could properly see themselves. Kaoru did a double-take. He knew that they were similar from the moment they'd laid eyes on each other on the plane, but it was one thing to compare yourself to someone on first casual sight. It was quite another to have said look-alike standing right next to him and look into a mirror to see exactly how symmetrical they both were. Two pairs of amber eyes widened in unison, two astonished expressions plastered on two identical faces. Kaoru had to reach up and touch his cheek to figure out which reflection was which.

"Hot damn." Hikaru was similarly shocked--the kid had yanked around the mirror before he had a chance to look away and here he was again, face to face with a looking-glass for the second time in a week. It had to be a new record, but he didn't really have time to think about that. He was quite busy staring at his reflection, trying to process the incredible fact that, yes, for the first time in what seemed like forever, he was staring not at a stranger imitating his features, but at himself. No...that wasn't true, he realized slowly. The man in the mirror, the mysterious apparition that had haunted him all his days was still there, and he was standing right next to...

"You alright, bro?" Haruhi tapped him on the shoulder, and he flinched at the contact, forcibly tearing his gaze from the glass. His sister arched a brow, but she was frowning and her eyes were bright with worry. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

Well, Hikaru mused wryly, in a way, he had. "I'm just a little surprised, that's all," he lied, shaking his head, trying to avoid Kaoru's look of concern.

Kaoru laughed nervously, tucking a few stray bangs behind one ear. "Yeah, I feel much the same way. I mean, everyone seemed to notice we looked alike, but I never knew it was...to this extent." The sun had half-melted his forgotten popsicle, and he suddenly realized the sticky juice was running down his fingers. He quickly set to attacking the treat again, and Hikaru busied himself with examining the interesting pattern of gravel pebbles on the pavement.

"Hey, Hika-chan, you should eat your ice cream, too. It's starting to melt and you haven't even opened it yet." Honey pouted, a gesture that made the short youth look even more boyish, if that was even possible. Hikaru was grateful for the distraction, however, and set to freeing his treat from the wrapper. It was only after he took his first bite--for such a bizarre combination, it was amazingly tasty--that he noticed something.

"What, wait's with the Hika-chan?"

Kaoru chuckled as he licked the last traces of lemon from his popsicle stick. "Honey's older than he looks, Hikaru. You're 21, like me, right? He's your senior by two years."

"Really?" Hikaru couldn't help but give said senior a skeptical look-over. Honey was petite, with fluffy blond bangs and a kid's round eyes. The way his baggy clothes hung loosely on his narrow shoulders suggested a small, slight frame. It was hard to believe he was older than Hikaru was. Then again, it was rather hard to believe he was old enough to work as an ice cream man at all. There was nothing hidden in that cheerful smile, but when Hikaru looked into that clear brown gaze, he thought he could understand that Honey was much more than what simply met the eye.

"KAORU!" And the next thing he knew, he was being strangled. He staggered until the weight of his attacker, catching a glimpse of wavy golden hair and tanned skin before collapsing. He could hear Honey squeak, and Haruhi's appalled cry of "Stop killing my brother!" before a pair of strong arms--Kaoru's, he noted faintly--tugged his assailant off and away.

"Second time that's happened already, this is getting really irritating," he ground out as Haruhi hauled him to his feet. He'd dropped his ice cream, too, he noticed with dismay, and rounded on his attacker with righteous fury blazing in his glare. "Hey, you little punk--"

Haruhi instantly clapped her hands over his mouth, effectively cutting off his enraged diatribe. She smiled apologetically at the newcomer, who was looking between Hikaru and Kaoru--currently doubled over with suppressed laughter--with obvious disbelief. "There're two of you?"

Kaoru smirked and caught Hikaru's eye. Immediately he caught on to the other's plot, and an identically evil grin spread over his face as he pulled free of his sister's grip. The two stalked towards the bewildered Frenchman in unison, perfectly synchronized from the narrowing of their yellow eyes to the timing of their every footfall.

"That's right. There's two--"

"--can you tell who's who?"

Honey was staring at their performance, eyes wide as saucers. Haruhi looked torn between amusement and helpless exasperation. And their victim looked absolutely bamboozled. Hikaru and Kaoru struggled to keep their composure, but finally cracked at the exact same moment. They burst into hysterical laughter, startling all three onlookers as they struggled to stay upright through violent gigglefits.

"You two are real devils, aren't you?" Haruhi sighed, but she couldn't help smiling.

"So where's Kaoru?" the Frenchman asked, visibly wilting.

"Well, it'd help to remember what your brother was wearing, Tama," Honey piped up. He had already fetched another green bean cup and held it out for Hikaru to take. "Here, it's on the house, alright? For the awesome show. Did you guys practice?"

"Uh, no. I dunno, we kinda just made it up on the spot," Hikaru shrugged, gratefully accepting the new ice cream. "Thanks, man."

"No problem!"

"Personally, bro, I'm offended you didn't immediately recognize me," Kaoru sneered, leaning on the blond's shoulder. "Don't tell me you actually confused me for the look-alike over there?"

"Uh, no! Of course not!" Tamaki denied fervently, flapping his hands, his gaze flicking desperately to the others for help. "Hey, Kaoru, won't you introduce me to your friends?"

"Right. Well," Kaoru was, admittedly, still annoyed. After all, he was Tamaki's brother, they'd known each other all their lives..."This is Hikaru, y'know, the guy from the plane. And Haruhi, his sister." He placed a slight emphasis on the word 'sister', raising an eyebrow at his brother, who reddened as he remembered mistakening said girl for a male back on the flight.

But Tamaki recovered brilliantly and knelt theatrically at Haruhi's feet, clasping her free hand and gazing up at her with suddenly starry eyes. "I am honored to be blessed with your lovely presence, miss Haruhi. Consider me your loyal vassal for life and beyond." Haruhi flushed, but gently tugged her wrist free of the Frenchman's grasp.

"Uhm...thanks, I suppose..."

Hikaru growled, hands clenching into fists. "Are you trying to hit on my sister, man?"

"He acts that way with every girl," Kaoru chuckled, watching Tamaki's expression fall and Haruhi's face darken. "It's part of being a host. He never really grew out of it."

"What? No, that's not true! I truly admire your dear sister's graceful aesthetics, Hikaru!"

"Give it up," Honey suggested sagely as he fetched a random ice cream cone and offered it to the blond man. "Want some?"

"Ah, Honey, that would be much appreciated. My thanks," Tamaki exclaimed, accepting the treat and shoving a few dollars through the window. "Here, keep the change." Kaoru couldn't hold back a laugh--it was rather obvious that his brother was trying to appear gallant for his newfound princess, and from Haruhi's deadpan look he guessed that she had caught up to his ploy as well.

"I don't need it. What's an ice cream between friends?" Honey tried to return the money, but in vain.

"No, I insist!"

"Hey, Tama, I've more customers to take care of right now," Honey said desperately as he caught sight of a new wave of beach-goers approaching. He threw the bills back into Tamaki's hands and slammed the window down so that the Frenchman couldn't force the money back. "Bye, Tama, you'd best be going now, they'll be annoyed you're blocking the line! I'll call you and Kaoru later, 'kay?"

"Give it up," Haruhi huffed, reluctantly prying the Frenchman from the window. "C'mon, let's go back to the beach, you guys."

...

Hikaru hated to drive. He couldn't help it. There were mirrors all over the damn car, after all, even if few of them were designed to show the driver's reflection. Usually he let Haruhi take the wheel, which was fine by the both of them. She was the more careful and safer driver anyways.

So it came as a surprise to the two when he offered to drive them home once evening came and their little foursome parted ways. Haruhi's brows rose into her shaggy bangs--she glanced skeptically at their little rented car, then back to her brother. She had good reason to be wary, though, and he didn't hold it against her. He hadn't driven in months. Maybe half a year, even.

"Are you sure?"

"I can handle it," Hikaru insisted. Haruhi relinquished the keys with a hesitant grin, and they both took their seats. He inserted the key in the ignition, twisting it and feeling a bit heartened when the engine purred to life. He hadn't totally forgotten how to do this after all, he noted with a rush of relief. As a matter of fact, it seemed even easier now. He remembered being edgy every time he was boxed into the machine, and it had taken him forever to get his license, as he had a bad habit of never checking his wing or rear view mirror.

But now, as he pulled onto the road and rolled down the windows, he felt a strange calm overtake him. For once in his life, he felt comfortable in a car. His sister twiddled with the radio, switching channels swiftly, lingering on some that seemed slightly promising, before moving on. She finally settled on a light rock station, and leaned back contentedly in her seat as a woman's soft voice crooned out from the speakers.

"_I've still got sand in my shoes, and I can't shake the thought of you--_"

"I didn't know they played American songs over here in Japan," Hikaru commented idly. The open window allowed the refreshing sea breeze to play with his hair and caress his sunburnt cheeks. It was rather chilly, but not altogether unpleasant. And it had been a good day.

"I never knew that either," Haruhi said, sounding bemused. "Well, you learn something new everyday, huh?"

"I guess so."

They made their way through downtown Tokyo, where gaudy neon lights flashed and swarms of teenagers meandered through the crowded streets. It made for a slow, congested trip, but the siblings didn't mind. Their minds were free of worry, and they simply allowed themselves to enjoy the spectacle of the city at night with lazy smiles on their faces.

"Haruhi, you hungry? We could grab a bite to eat before going back home. Anything you want."

"My, aren't you the generous one tonight?" his sister remarked wryly. "Nah, there's no need. You'll probably spend hours looking for a place to park here, anyways. And I'm still fine with Honey's tea. That boy makes an amazing smoothie, seriously. I wonder what exactly he puts into that mixer?" She drifted off into thought, no doubt making a mental note to buy a blender on their next shopping expedition. "Hey, bro, ask Kaoru if he'd give me Honey's phone number, 'kay?"

"Yeah, sure." Hikaru drummed his fingertips boredly on the dashboard. They'd stopped at a red light at one of the largest and busiest crossroads in the city, and it looked as if they were in for a long ten-minute wait. On a whim, he pulled down the sun visor, even though the sun had long since set. And to both his and Haruhi's amazement, he found himself flipping open the little vanity mirror within the flap and scrutinizing his reflection. The man in the mirror was still there, he noticed with an odd sense of detachment. But there was a genuine smile on his face, and Hikaru had to reach up and touch his lips to find that he was grinning madly as well.

Haruhi stared at her brother, absolutely thunderstruck. "Hikaru?"

"Mm?" he hummed, studying himself a moment further before flicking the little looking glass back into its usual position and turning to casually regard his sibling, as if nothing out of the ordinary had just occurred. "What is it?"

She just goggled at him in disbelief, her eyes widening comically and her jaw slack. She looked so ridiculous that her brother couldn't help but burst into laughter, and after a second of indecision, she joined in. None of them noticed as their stoplight turned green, and it was only after the minivan behind them honked in irritation that Hikaru proceeded onwards, while raising a brow at his sister. "What?"

"Oh...nothing," Haruhi said flippantly, dismissing the matter with a wave of the hand. "Nothing at all."

"Right," Hikaru was nonplussed, but his high spirits continued as they drove home.

...

"Ow! Not so hard, Tamaki! And go slower, damnit!"

"If you don't stop complaining, you can just go ahead and do it yourself!" Tamaki retorted with a scowl.

"But I can't reach all the spots."

"Then you'll just have to can it and let me do things my way, all right?"

Kaoru glowered at his elder brother, but reluctantly complied and fell silent, wincing every so often when Tamaki's fingers pressed too roughly against his sore skin. The blond man frowned as he continued to lather after-sun milk onto Kaoru's forearms. "How'd you get so many sunburns, anyways? Seriously, bro, you look like a broiled lobster or something."

"Thanks for the lovely mental image, man," Kaoru muttered. "Anyways, I did put on sunscreen, but it probably wasn't enough. I thought that I'd be spending the whole day reading under the umbrella, after all. How was I supposed to know some idiot would lug me off to build sand castles under the sun?"

"Oh, so you're blaming the whole thing on your friend now?"

"Well, when you put it that way...yes," he bit back a hiss as Tamaki's thumbs ran over a particularly painful area on his neck. "And he has a name, y'know," he added as an afterthought. "You don't have to go around calling him 'my friend' all the time."

"Heh. Hikaru, I know." Tamaki couldn't resist chortling as he carried on with his task. "Kinda silly name, wouldn't you think? Whoever named him must've had the same sadistic sense of humor as your mother. I must say, though--Haruhi, now that's a lovely name. Befitting of such a beautiful maiden."

Kaoru snorted. "And to think just a few days ago you'd mistaken said 'beautiful maiden' for a guy, eh?"

Tamaki flushed. "Hey, shut up! I was distracted that day by your look-alike!"

"Suuure," Kaoru teased, and yelped when his brother punched him on the shoulder. "Damnit, Tamaki, that hurt!"

"Well, then, you should watch your mouth, shouldn't you?" the Frenchman sniffed in what he obviously thought was a dignified manner. Kaoru pouted, but he fancied his brother's hands slowed in an attempt to be more soothing, and he couldn't help but close his eyes and relax slightly. The cool aloe vera gel felt sublime against his abused skin.

"Tamaki, what did you mean by 'my mother'?" he muttered accusingly. "Isn't it supposed to be 'our mother'?"

He felt the treatment lapse for a minute as his brother squeezed more of the lotion on his palm, before gently rubbing it into Kaoru's back. "Of course that's what I meant. Slip of the tongue, that's all," Tamaki answered after the break, but Kaoru wondered if the airy tone of his voice was forced or sincere. And he couldn't help but think back to Haruhi's blithe voice, her light admission at their first meeting...

"Hey, bro."

"What?"

"If--and I realize that this is a purely hypothetical question I'm asking here--if I was adopted, you'd tell me, wouldn't you?"

Another, longer pause. Then, "Yeah. Of course I'd tell you."

And Kaoru was satisfied with the reply. All things considered, he thought that today had been a good day. Even if he did get sunburned half to death, even with all the sand still stuck in his shoes and his hair...all in all, things weren't too bad. Nobody had stolen his book, after all, he got treated to a free popsicle, and he'd one-upped Tamaki. What more could he ask for?

"It's such a pity, don't you think?" Tamaki murmured, spreading gel over his sibling's chest. "If it weren't for the fact that the skin on your legs was peeling, you could wear this lovely miniskirt I prepared for our next flight..."

"TAMAKI!"

The moon shone serenely down on the hotel and the city and the beach on the coast. There was still a half-finished castle, and island, and an airplane sitting on the sandbar.

...

_author's notes_ - apologies for such a long chapter. it just didn't want to end, really. sorry if it was a bit boring--the plot should be getting a move on the next chapter or two. also, a note: i just found out that kaoru's actually a girl's name, so ignore that little part last chapter when haruhi says it's not, 'kay? 


	5. Ch 3 : UNPARALLELED

220,000 YEARS  
_fanfic by volly  
ouran high school host club (c) bisco hatori_

...

Chapter 3 : UNPARALLELED

_from_: gogonarcissus  
_to_: flyboy-sk  
_date_: May 25, 2007 9:02 PM  
_subject_: vol

Hey kao-chan, how're you doin? You going somehwere interesting? life here in japan is pretty boring, I've been doing nothing but learning names and properties of random japanese herbs. I bet things on your side's much more interesting than that, huh?

haruhi wants to know if there are any secret ingredients honey puts in his teas.

- hikaru

-----

_from_: flyboy-sk  
_to_: gogonarcissus  
_date_: May 26, 2007 6:49 AM  
_subject_: re: vol

Hikaru stop calling me that.

rightnow the only flights I'm on are ones from Tokyo to miscellaneous places on west U.S. so far I've been to San francisco and Portland. it's pretty fun cos we get to tour the places for a few days before the next flight. Tamaki's excited cos in a week we're going to fly to honolulu and he loves beaches.

sorry for your boring studies, i hope you'll find some way to entertain yourself. Like pranking Haruhi or something. Or helping me figure out how to get those photos from tamaki. he tried to make me wear a miniskirt on our last flight and i could've killed him if it weren't for those pictures.

tell Haruhi i could give her honey's #. also Tamaki wants to know if he could have her email.

-kaoru

-----

_from_: gogonarcissus  
_to_: flyboy-sk  
_date_: May 26, 2007 8:14 AM  
_subject_: re: re: vol

I'll call you what i want :)

Lucky! I'd like to go to hawaii. But I also heard there're lots of mosquitos there and I always get bitten a lot. it's odd. they really like my blood. more than Haruhi's, she never gets bitten. anyways I hope you have fun.

i'm not going to prank Haruhi, she's my sister. And she's nice. I don't see why you enjoy playing tricks on your brother so much, actually. He seems okay, even though he's a dimwitted flirt. But I don't have any advice except to try and steal the pictures back when he's sleeping or something. And if he has any disturbing habits you could try to blackmail him back i guess.

Haruhi says she'd love honey's #. and she says tamaki should just piss off.

- hikaru

-----

_from_: flyboy-sk  
_to_: gogonarcissus  
_date_: May 31, 2007 9:32 PM  
_subject_: re: re: re: vol

Oh, would you like it if I called you Hika-sama or something silly like that?

anyways, I have the same problem. Hate mosquitoes. I might be staying inside the whole trip, actually. Let Tamaki go out and get eaten alive. good idea. if you're busy with all those herb studies, you can go see if there's anything out there for bug bites, right?

and i like to prank Tamaki cos it's fun. I dunno. Besides, he's the kind of guy you just want to beat up, for some reason. hang around him long enough and you'll see what i mean. i'll try to see if i can get any good material on him, but i kinda doubt it.

Honey's screenname is usa-chan821. Tamaki says your sister may've gotten the wrong impression of him at our first meeting. i think he's getting desperate. He hasn't acted like this since high school.

- kaoru

-----

_from_: gogonarcissus  
_to_: flyboy-sk  
_date_: June 1, 2007 7:13 AM  
_subject_: re: re: re: re: vol

hahah, i wouldn't mind.

i'll see if I can find something. There's probably something like that floating around. You should hear the professors over here, they're convinced that traditional methods can solve absolutely everything. They've got stuff for arthritis, for food poisoning, for acne...listening to them, you'd think they've got a cure for cancer hidden in all their tea leaves and powders.

question: how come you never come online often? haruhi keeps wanting to talk with you on IM but you're never on. i told her to email you but she doesn't want to reveal her screenname to the likes of Tamaki.

Haruhi says thanks for Honey's email address. Also she wants to tell Tamaki to leave her alone. seriously, i'm getting annoyed too. can't you tell him to just fuck off for once?

- hikaru

...

He should've brought an umbrella, Hikaru mused darkly as he picked his way through the puddles on the sidewalk. But, then again, he still wasn't accustomed to having rain in summer. It was a lovely day--bright sun, fluffy clouds, crisp winds and the like. Droplets fell from the sky in a gentle cascade that nevertheless soaked through his thin clothes and drenched his gelled hair. It was, he thought, the sort of weather that'd be featured in those sappy 'dancing in the rain' sorts of music videos, or something like that. He always thought that activity was overrated, anyways.

The thing with Japan was that it was still hot, even in the midst of a shower, and his body was torn between sweating from the heat and shivering from the chill of the rain. Hikaru kept his head down as he let his feet carry himself down now-familiar streets of the city, past the shops and hopeful vendors and the other pedestrians making their way through their own lives. He couldn't wait to get home. It'd been a long day and he was tired, not to mention sopping wet and grumpy. So he couldn't resist breathing a sigh of relief as he caught sight of his apartment, and his pace quickened as he approached.

Haruhi glanced up from her maps as her brother entered the room, and spared him just a grin before turning to her books. "Welcome back. Should've brought an umbrella, eh?"

"Oh, shut up," Hikaru growled, but his sister only giggled in response--she knew better than to take her brother seriously. The disgruntled man peeled off his wet vest and hung it over a nearby chair before stalking off to the kitchen in search of coffee. A few minutes later he returned, mug in hand. He watched his younger sibling work in silence for a while, before pulling over another stool and plopping himself down on the cushion. "What're you doing?"

"What's it look like?" Haruhi asked wryly, rubbing at a crink in her neck. She looked about as exhausted as he felt, and Hikaru was compelled to offer her a bit of his drink. She accepted the cup gratefully, but took just a sip before setting it down and making a face. "Man, why'd you never put in any sugar? Or milk? It's so bitter."

"For your information," Hikaru drawled, a smirk on his tanned face, "I happen to like black coffee." Haruhi shot him a look of amusement and passed him back his mug; he took a theatrical swig of the steaming drink before turning his attention to the many tomes and figures spread out on the little desk. The papers were adorned mainly with drawings of miscellaneous body parts, which were peppered with little black dots, complete with their own respective captions, each of which proudly sported messages like "common cold" and "earache" and "gum infection"...

"It's for my acupuncture course," Haruhi explained, tapping at one of the maps with the end of her pencil. "We're having a test tomorrow and I have to study. Personally, I doubt I'll ever have to use many of these, but it's better to be prepared, right?" She glared at a random legend--"lupus"--before shrugging one shoulder and going back to poring over her notes.

"Acupuncture? That's when you stab people with needles, right?" Hikaru picked up one of the haphazard sheets and examined the right foot's various pressure points with vague interest. "And how exactly does that help heal people, pray tell?"

"We don't stab people, we just stimulate the immune system enough to let the body become aware of the problem and start fixing itself," Haruhi said dully, sounding as though she'd swallowed her textbook, as usual. "It's barely a pinprick, really. And stop messing with my maps, I need to use these things." She snatched the paper from Hikaru's hands, but in the process knocked a few other charts to the ground.

Her elder brother leapt to recollect the fallen papers, nearly upsetting his coffee while doing so. His eyes widened upon catching sight of one particular diagram--he held it aloft, not knowing whether to wince or laugh at its sheer absurdity. "Hot damn, that looks--"

"Hey, give me that!" the younger girl grabbed her map back, groaning as she saw what was drawn on its glossy surface. "Aren't you too old to be getting excited over things like this?"

"Don't tell me people stick needles there!" Hikaru choked out through smothered laughter. Haruhi rolled her eyes.

"You'd be surprised at the places we could 'stick needles' in," she said dryly, ruffling her brother's hair. However, she had to raise an eyebrow as she let her fingers comb through the slick strands. "Bro, you're absolutely soaked, aren't you? Why are you still bothering my studies and not taking a shower or something?"

"Fine. I see that my company is unappreciated. So be it," Hikaru scoffed, gathering up his dripping shirt and mock-storming from the chamber. Haruhi couldn't hide a smile at his departure, and took a moment to straighten out the piles of papers on the cramped table before resuming her study session. Incidents like these were definitely not uncommon; Hikaru loved to hang out with his sister, especially since he rarely had anyone else to spend time with. She never minded much, and over time she grew to get used to and even enjoy his teasing and idle banter.

And now, strangely enough, she felt oddly distracted without his presence by her side. Haruhi hefted a sigh and set down her pencil, taking off her glasses so that she could rub at the bridge of her nose. She could hear the squeaking of the faucet in the bathroom, and then the patter of water from the shower head, followed by the swish of fabric as Hikaru pulled the curtain closed. Funny, she pondered, how when she finally had some peace and quiet to get some serious studying done, her mind didn't seem to want to focus. A break sounded good, actually...

"_Making discos of your castles, we are tearing up your plans--_"

Haruhi couldn't carry a tune to save her life, but where she was cursed, Hikaru was blessed. He never really looked like the sort to sing in the shower, but, then again, he always liked to break stereotypes. And he had such a lovely voice...although she'd never say it to his face, he'd be embarrassed to death. The girl smiled dreamily and rested her chin in her palm, letting her eyelids fall shut of her own accord. Rain continued to plink softly against the window and water continued to fall onto the tiles of the shower as Hikaru's song went on.

"_We won't be xeroxed for the future, filed by bureaucratic man--_"

Reluctantly, she opened her eyes and slid her spectacles back on. She'd been reviewing her texts for hours already, and it wouldn't do to slack off now--she had to get full marks on all her classes or else she'd never be eligible for that internship in Taiwan she'd been eyeing since last year. The student yawned and stretched out her arms briefly; Hikaru's mug still sat on the table, and she took just another cautious drink of the bitter liquid before putting it down on the stool and throwing herself back into her books. Once she finished her test tomorrow, she'd allow herself to relax a bit, maybe go out into the city for ice cream or a bubble tea or something...

She was still busy memorizing the pressure points located upon the buttocks (a delicate procedure in itself, to be sure) when Hikaru reentered the room, clothed in only a pair of boxers and some socks. He was still drying his hair with a towel, but strode over to his sibling with no regard to the drops that fell onto her papers. Haruhi shoved him away and let a bite of irritation to slip into her voice. "Don't you have anything better to do than sit around and drip water onto my stuff?"

"Well," Hikaru said, moving his now-cold coffee to the windowsill so that he could lug his seat over and sit behind his sister, "don't you have anything else to do besides study your brains out all day? You should take a rest for a bit. Eat a snack, take a walk, or maybe even a nap." She felt him lay his hands gently around her neck, letting them rest there for a moment before sliding them down to her shoulder blades. "Look, your muscles are way too tense. You should learn to relax..."

"Hm," Haruhi hummed idly. Hikaru's hands were calloused but gentle and firm as he began to massage her shoulders, fingers pressing delicately into a few choice pressure points that left her moaning. "Mm...Hikaru, you're...ah, pretty good at this, aren't you? That massage class much be...mm...pretty interesting."

"It is, but it's also hard work," Hikaru said. There was a knot of taut tendons at the base of Haruhi's neck, and he immediately set to loosening it. "My own arms are aching but there's nobody around to give me a backrub. We don't practice on each other...it'd be awkward."

"I can imagine," she murmured, arranging her texts on neat piles on the desk and clearing a space on the surface. Now she could lean forwards to rest her cheek on the cool wood, letting her upper body lay against the edge of the table and allowing Hikaru easier access to her back. His thumbs traced soothing circles on her shoulders and his breaths puffed against her bare neck as he bent over his patient, hard at work.

"Y'know, this's a really bad position for me. Usually we do this stuff better when the client's lying down." Haruhi felt the pressure lift from her shoulders and looked back to see Hikaru cracking his neck. "Why don't we move to the bed or something? It'd be more comfortable there."

She groaned and glanced back to the textbooks still lying on the desk. "You're just dead-set on dragging me away from my work, aren't you?" But she was smiling as she got up from the stool, kicking out her legs to get the circulation flowing properly again.

"Don't think of it that way," Hikaru chided as he led his sister into their shared bedroom. "Think of it as a well-deserved time off. Here, make yourself comfortable, I'm going to go look for some oil." So saying, he was off to the restroom, rummaging around toothpaste and shampoo for a suitable body lotion.

He returned to find Haruhi on the computer, brooding over an entry in an online medical encyclopedia. "I leave you for a minute and you're busy studying again," he complained, throwing up his arms in exasperation. "Really, what do I have to do to just make you relax?"

"I just had to check up on something," Haruhi said defensively, quickly closing the browser window like a minor being caught looking at porn. "D'you want to check your email or something?"

"Nah."

A blink. "That's a first. I remember just a few days ago you were obsessed with it. Used to be the first thing you did after waking up. After getting home from school. After every other breath, practically."

"A few days ago?" Hikaru repeated, brows furrowing as he flopped heavily down onto the mattress, mussing the neatly-folded covers instantly. "Try a few weeks. A few months, even."

Haruhi could only offer a sympathetic smile in response to his gloomy expression. "Kaoru hasn't gotten back to you yet, huh? Pity--I thought you guys were friends. And it was funny seeing you rush to the computer everyday." She paused, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "You don't suppose--"

"I don't suppose anything," Hikaru snapped suddenly, glaring at the laptop's screen. "Man, d'you want that massage or not? I've already--" he stopped as a tinny voice rang out from the computer's speakers. There was a but a second's worth of hesitation before the message repeated itself--

"--You've got mail--"

--and Haruhi found herself shunted rudely to the side as her brother dragged the computer to his lap. She opened her mouth, a sarcastic jibe poised perfectly on the tip of her tongue, but there was an odd intensity burning in her brother's eyes and a barely-noticeable redness to his cheeks that made her reconsider.

She and her brother had always been handsome youths. Back in high school, when romance was a must for any self-respecting student's reputation, they'd gotten confessions from numerous admirers (both female and male, to Hikaru's surprise) at least once a month. Though she'd never been interested in finding a boy- or girlfriend, she remembered well their universal demeanors at the critical moments of admission. All aflush with nervousness, eyes shyly downcast, bodies positively thrumming with anticipation...and as she studied Hikaru and the anxious slant of his lip, she recalled that no matter how softly he tried to reject his fans, their faces would always fall...

Hikaru never cared for the countless girls madly in love with him. He never cared for anyone save his sister, in actuality.

And he was only checking his email, Haruhi scolded herself as she averted her gaze. Stop drawing parallels. The rain, she realized vaguely, seemed to be falling harder--water covered the windowpane in a fluid sheet; the tapping of drops on the glass was loud enough to rival the clicking of Hikaru's mouse.

"I hope it's not a thunderstorm," she commented softly, loath to break the uneasy silence.

A grunt answered her, though she couldn't tell whether it was in agreement or not. "I can't wait to go home," came her brother's voice, unexpectedly. She couldn't help but feel a bit wary when meeting Hikaru's eyes, but his grin was like a sunbeam and for the first time all day she allowed herself to relax.

...

_from_: flyboy-sk  
_to_: gogonarcissus  
_date_: August 3, 2007 5:46 PM  
_subject_: re: re: re: re: re: vol

shut up, hika-sama.

i find it rather ironic that you sent this email the day before Tamaki spilled orange juice on our laptop. Sorry for getting back to you so late! Our computer got completely ruined and it took us awhile to buy a new one. Also I've been busy with my studies; I've just been able to fly my first plane two days ago at San Jose. I never told you, right, that I'm training to become a pilot?

Anyways, sorry again for not replying sooner. I have a cheap cell phone and it doesn't have any email/IM capabilities. Also I don't really lilke to IM much cos I don't really have anyone to chat with anyways. Tell Haruhi that my schedule's really busy--i don't have much free time to be going on the computer, unless it's the weekend. I'll try to be online on the fifth, okay? Tell her to look out for me sometime around 8-9 pm, alright? Also, ask her why she wants to talk with me about, I'm kinda curious.

You don't know how persisitant Tamaki can be. But I'll tell you one thing: i tried.

- kaoru

...

_author's notes_ - a relatively tame chapter, again. but the next one's definitely going to be quite action-packed. which means it's going to take even longer. :/ on the other hand, no school might mean faster updates. maaaaybe. 


	6. Ch 4 : REMEMBER WHERE THE

220,000 YEARS  
_fanfic by volly  
ouran high school host club (c) bisco hatori_

...

Chapter 4: REMEMBER WHERE THE

The airport was a bustling, busy place when it was daylight, but it was quite a different story now that all the shops were closed and the lights were dimmed and the customary throngs of travelers were absent from the long halls. All the gates were already locked up save for one--the last flight of the day, an all-night trip from Tokyo to San Francisco. There weren't many people waiting in the large room, and it looked as if the plane would be a relatively empty one. Most of the voyagers were stressed-looking businessmen busy typing away at their laptops, though there was a small group of tourists chatting amicably by the windows, and a scattering of college students milled about the mix as well.

Among this motley herd was a redheaded man and a younger dark-haired girl, who was currently busy trying not to nod off against her brother's shoulder. Her eyes would drift shut and her breathing even out for a minute or two as she cushioned her cheek on her companion's side, but she would jerk awake just a moment later, rubbing her eyes and glancing around blearily, as if worried that she'd missed her flight during her cat nap. The older man looked on with barely-concealed amusement, but there was a latent fondness to his gaze and a cheerful lift to his voice as he softly sang along to the song on his mp3 player--he was obviously in a good mood.

"_Undo, corkscrew, drink from the top of a broken bottle--_"

And then the stagnant atmosphere was broken as a cool female voice sang out from the intercom. "Passengers of flight 3265, your plane is now boarding. Please go to Gate 16 to board your plane for San Francisco. Passengers of flight 3265, the plane is now taking all 'A' pass holders, first-class passengers, disabled passengers, and unaccompanied minors. Please go to Gate 16 to board your plane..."

"It's about time," Hikaru said, pulling off his headphones and stowing them away in his backpack. "C'mon, sis, wake up, won't you?" he nudged at the other student, oblivious to the fact that her eyes were already wide open. "Let's get in line."

"Yeah, sure," the shorter girl yawned, getting up from her seat and bending down to pick up their bags. Hikaru eyed her with concern as they walked to the check-in area.

"You all right? It's only ten--why're you so sleepy?"

"Well, I suspect staying up 'till three in the morning packing last night might've had something to do with it," Haruhi replied dryly, handing her air ticket over to a flight attendant, who tore off a strip before giving it back to her with a polite bow. "Thanks."

"At least you can go to sleep on the plane, huh?" Hikaru offered. They walked through the passageway leading to their airplane, and he couldn't help but notice how his sister's eyes kept drooping. "You seemed to be awake enough all day."

"That was before my coffee stockpile ran out," Haruhi said, turning a corner and stopping still, causing Hikaru to nearly walk right into her.

"What--?"

Haruhi blinked twice before her lips stretched into a wide grin. "Hey, it's you!"

"Oh, hi, Haru--"

But the steward didn't get to complete his sentence; Hikaru just had to catch but a glimpse of russet hair and amber eyes before jumping the other man. Kaoru yelped, but just managed to keep his balance--though he did so by smashing into the side of the airplane instead. "Ow! Damnit, what the hell?"

"Kaoru!"

"Uh, yeah, that's me," the flight attendant laughed when Hikaru finally released him, rubbing at his neck with embarrassment at his spur-of-the-moment attack. "My, aren't we clingy tonight?"

"Heh, I guess so." But Hikaru couldn't hold back the grin tugging at his lips as he looked Kaoru up and down appreciatively. "What, no dress? I'm so disappointed with you, Kao-chan."

"Shut up, man." There were a few murmurs from the crowd now assembled behind the trio, and Kaoru could see scowls on some of the more impatient travelers eager to board the plane. He ushered his friends in through the door with an apologetic, winning smile at the others. "C'mon, go and sit down already. We can talk later, 'kay? Actually--tell you what--go and take the seats by the emergency exit, it's pretty close to the section I'm working at."

"But we're supposed to be at row 32," Haruhi said hesitantly, consulting her flight ticket. Kaoru just chuckled as he pulled her luggage from her hands and escorted the two down the aisle.

"Don't worry about that. It's such an empty flight people pretty much sit where they like anyways. Besides, people don't like to sit near the wings for some reason, so no one will care."

"Well, if you say so." Haruhi's voice was still uncertain, but she took her seat without further comment. Kaoru popped open the overhead compartment and shoved the bags inside before turning and holding out a hand for Hikaru's baggage with an arched brow and a crooked grin that did awkward things to Hikaru's stomach.

"Your bags, good sir?"

"I'll do it myself, thank you very much," Hikaru nodded towards the entrance, where a certain blond steward now took over the job of bowing in the passengers. "In the meantime, it looks like you'd best get back to work, hmm? Wouldn't want your brother to think you're slacking off now, right?"

"I suppose." Kaoru paused and his smile seemed to falter briefly when he regarded his elder sibling. Hikaru blinked, but forced a laugh as he sat down.

"I'll see you later, then?"

"But of course." And then Kaoru was off, beaming at the new arrivals, offering a greeting and a bow and that ever-confusing smile. Hikaru tore his gaze away from the other man and noticed belatedly that his heart was racing, even though he hadn't done anything particularly athletic lately. What was happening to him? He shook his head, scowling at the fluttering sensation that still lingered in his chest. What the hell--it felt like butterflies were rampaging in his gut and he had no idea why...

"Hey, sis, what--"

But he was answered with only a soft snore. Haruhi was already fast asleep.

...

In what seemed like five minutes later, she awoke with a start and clutched at her armrest as the plane shivered through a few uneven air currents. "Ah! What?" Someone had thrown a blanket over her, she discovered muzzily as he arms got entangled in the fabric folds. The area was dim--everybody seemed to have turned off their lights and all of the people on the plane were currently dozing their hearts out. No, not everybody. Two pairs of golden eyes blinked at her outburst, two voices speaking in unison with equally concerned voices.

"Oh, you're awake?"

Haruhi's eyes widened and she stared at the duo, incredulous gaze flicking from one to the other in sheer amazement. In the soft glow of the ground lights, they looked absolutely identical; it was only after she rubbed the remnants of sleep from her eyes that she could distinguish her brother from his friend. "Good grief, how d'you do that?"

The pair exchanged approving smirks. "Impressed, aren't you? We've been practicing," Hikaru said smugly, slinging an arm comfortably around Kaoru's neck. "At first it was kinda irritating--"

"--but it's actually a pretty neat trick, isn't it?" Kaoru finished with a flirty wink. "And we were thinking that if we dressed the same way and styled our hair similarly, we could probably trick people into thinking we're twins!"

"Is that such a good thing?" Haruhi asked. The two blinked.

"What d'you mean?"

"Well, wouldn't you be offended or something if people mix up your identities?"

She could see the cogs turning in their minds as their grins shrank and their eyes narrowed. Nevertheless, Hikaru tried to laugh it off, although it was obvious the question troubled him. "Eh, I dunno about that. You can tell us apart, right?"

"Well, yeah. But Tamaki had some trouble with you guys, remember?" Haruhi stared at Kaoru this time, but he wouldn't meet her eyes. Hikaru growled.

"That's 'cos he's an idiot. Y'know, he came by some time ago when you were still sleeping and practically molested--"

Another jolt of the plane, and Haruhi cried out in surprise, causing both men to start. Kaoru reached out a hand hesitantly, but withdrew it inches from her arm. "Are you all right?"

"The plane just--ah, jumped--"

"Oh. That's just air turbulence. It happens every so often, you'll get used to it." Kaoru stood up, letting Hikaru's arm slip from his shoulders as he straightened his tie and assembled a suddenly more distant demeanor. "If you're airsick, I could get a barf bag or a drink or something."

"I don't think so...but a drink sounds nice," Haruhi mumbled, still a bit unsettled. She wrapped the blanket more tightly around her body and shivered. "Maybe a cup of water, if it's not too much trouble?"

"Of course." And Kaoru began briskly down the aisle, taking care not to wake the other sleeping passengers. Haruhi yawned and glanced out the window; the sky was iron-gray, and dark clouds obscured the ocean below. Everything seemed to have a rather foggy quality to it, she mused. Why, she couldn't even see the moon or the stars, and for some reason the fact worried her far more than it ought to.

She turned to her brother, who now looked rather awkward and bored without Kaoru by his side. "How long was I sleeping?"

He checked his watch. "A few hours. It's one in the morning right now, so we still have about seven hours to go 'till landing."

Haruhi raised an eyebrow. "And why aren't you sleeping, then?"

"Well, I have to catch up on things with Kaoru, right?"

The girl grinned and leaned back into her seat. "I guess so. You two really like each other, don't you?"

Hikaru sputtered. "What d'you--"

But his sister just giggled in response to his anxiety attack and leaned in close, as if wanting to disclose some valuable secret. "Oh, it's all right, Hikaru. You don't have to be embarrassed, it's nothing to be ashamed of."

"I'm not ga--" but Haruhi cut him off again, still with that ever-serene smile on her face.

"No, I completely understand. Some people just find it really hard to make real friends, and sometimes it just takes a while." Placing her elbow on her armrest and cupping her chin in her palm, she had an eerily knowing look about her that was so incongruent with her next few words, he couldn't help but be taken aback.

"I'm glad you finally found someone who likes you as much as you like him. Email buddies, partners in crime...they're great, friends like that."

Hikaru was stunned. "Wait...on that interpretation?"

His sister gave him an innocently curious glance that revealed absolutely nothing. "What interpretation?"

"Uhm, never mind."

It was then that Kaoru returned with a bottle of water in hand and an oddly pensive look in his eyes. However, he was cheerful enough when handing Haruhi her order and slid comfortable into the seat by Hikaru's side as if he belonged there. "Feeling better? Would you two like anything else?"

"No thanks," Haruhi opened the bottle and took a grateful sip. Kaoru glanced to Hikaru, but he gave a noncommittal jerk of his head and continued to state moodily out the window, poring over his sister's message.

"Well, if you're ever in the mood for a midnight snack or something, feel free to--"

Kaoru was interrupted by yet another one of the plane's convulsive shudders; this one was so great, however, that Kaoru was nearly thrown out of his chair--he hadn't been wearing a seatbelt. Haruhi gave a squeak as he water bottle slipped from her hands and fell to the ground. Luckily, she was able to snatch it from its descent, though Hikaru still received a generous dousing of water across his legs.

The airplane's sudden movement did not go unnoticed by the other voyagers, either. Move than a few slumberers were jerked awake and now sat muttering grumpily and rubbing at their sleep-laden eyes. A couple were murmuring in concern as they looked out the pane at the gloomy heavens beyond. Somewhere further down the plane, a baby began crying.

"Just some more turbulence, nothing to worry about," Kaoru said calmly, standing up and tugging at his lapel. Nevertheless, Hikaru noticed that his movements were rather jerky and his voice sounded latently strained. "It happens a lot, especially during trans-Pacific flights. The Pacific Ocean is quite wild."

"Our flight to Japan was really smooth, though," Haruhi said weakly, screwing on the cap of her drink and clutching the plastic surface with pale fingers. "K-Kaoru, what if the--" she couldn't find it in herself to complete the question, but the steward understood perfectly. Kaoru gave a chuckle as he leaned across the row to place a hand comfortingly atop Haruhi's tousled hair.

"Aw, are you so scared now? Don't worry! You always hear horror stories about aerial accidents, but they're really rare, in actuality." His lips were frozen in a reassuring smile; those lips then parted in a short laugh as Kaoru straightened up, tapping a finger against his cheek as he gazed thoughtfully up at the ceiling. "People have this bad habit of thinking of flying as a risk when in reality it's one of the safest methods of transportation. Car crashes, for example, happen far more often than plane crashes."

"Yes, I suppose that's true," Haruhi mumbled, though her body stayed tense and her eyes flicked restlessly from side to side. Kaoru noticed this and clicked his tongue reprimandingly.

"You don't believe me, don't you?" Haruhi frowned, but didn't disprove the claim. Hikaru slapped on a mischevous grin and pulled his sister into a half-hug, poking at her cheek with his free hand.

"She's an insufferable worrywort is all."

"You're not in the position to say that!" the girl replied hotly, trying and failing to free herself from Hikaru's embrace. "Who was the one pulling his hair out when we flew here three months ago?"

"What d'you mean, 'pulling my hair out'? I never--"

Kaoru cut into Hikaru's heated retort, killing off what would've doubtless evolved into a highly-strung sibling fight. "Hikaru, it's normal for your sister to be nervous. It's just rather...unreasonable. Chances are that you or your children or even your children's children will never experience a plane crash. I've read a lot of articles about it, actually--you want to hear something interesting?"

Brother and sister nodded in unison and listened attentively as Kaoru continued. "Statistics say that if a person went on one random plane trip every single day--that's seven flights a week, 365 flights a year--it would take about 220,000 years 'till the person would be caught in a fatal aerial accident. So think about it; you've been on only two flights in three months and you're still worrying? What are the odds? Nil, practically."

"Really? That's nice to know," Hikaru smirked when he finally released his sister, who shrank back in relief, scowling. "I mean, it wasn't as if I was worried in the first place, but still," he added quickly, as a sheepish afterthought.

"220,000 years, huh?" Haruhi repeated. "Well, that's not so bad. Thanks, Kaoru."

"Heh. I just had to clear up a few misconceptions, that's all," the steward said dismissively, biting back a smile as he saw color return to Haruhi's whitened knuckles. However, tension returned to the momentarily-relaxed atmosphere when the plane underwent another small series of jolts; even though these were noticeably less powerful than the previous one, all three couldn't help but flinch. Kaoru was the first to regain his composure--he gave an uneasy laugh as he reached over to tighten Hikaru's seatbelt, making the other stiffen as his breath hitched. "I gotta admit, though. It's ironic that this flight's a lot rockier than normal."

"Maybe you should go and ask the pilot what's up?" Haruhi suggested tentatively.

Kaoru blinked, rubbing at his neck awkwardly. "I'm not sure if that's necessary, but if it'd put you at ease...?"

The dark-haired girl hesitated only an instant before nodding. Kaoru shrugged, and it was with a mild "All right then," that he turned smartly on his heel and was gone. Hikaru rounded on his sister, feeling uncharacteristically annoyed. "Aren't you just inconveniencing him?"

"Well, he was okay with it, right?" Haruhi returned defensively, drawing her blanket around her body like a protective cocoon. "Besides," and her voice lowered conspiratorially, so that Hikaru had to strain to hear her above the rumbling of the engines, "call me silly, call me stupid, call me a worrywort, but I have a bad feeling about this. Something in my gut. Don't tell me you don't feel it either."

Hikaru wanted to laugh or sigh in exasperation, but Haruhi looked so serious that he could only frown. Air currents continued to buffet the plane and Haruhi twitched with every jarring motion. Her brother shifted uneasily in his seat and wished Kaoru would return with his reassuring voice and bright grin. He hung his head.

"Sorry."

But Haruhi didn't reply with her expected "It's all right." Instead, she was quite occupied with staring out the window, at the clouds that had suddenly assembled into an all-too-familiar, an all-too-terrifying shape.

...

Tamaki was perched on a cramped little seat right outside of the cockpit, but he didn't seem to notice his fellow steward's arrival as he continued fiddling with the metallic puzzle in his hands. Kaoru paused and eyed his older brother with interest--strange, the Frenchman was an energetic fellow with a short attention span, yet now he was so engrossed with his little toy he didn't even notice Kaoru's presence.

"What's that?"

At last the blond man glanced up. Surprisingly, he gave Kaoru only a blank stare before turning back to his game. "Brainteaser rings. I got them as an extra at that supermarket we visited just before the flight. They're surprisingly...addicting...ah!" With a last tug, the two pieces fell apart, and Tamaki surveyed his work with a self-satisfied eye. "I solved it."

Kaoru hummed as he examined the wiry contraption. "Hm. I never knew you liked puzzles, bro."

"To tell the truth, I didn't know that either," Tamaki admitted mildly, dropping the rings into his pocket. "Anyways, what're you doing here? I thought you were in charge of the back half of the plane."

"One of our passengers was concerned about all the turbulence we're going through," Kaoru said, choosing his words carefully, making sure he didn't mention Haruhi's name. It was possible that Tamaki might have forgotten about her in his strange puzzle-induced haze, but it was best to take precautions. He had become oddly smitten with the boyish girl, for some reason. "She wanted to know if there was something up with the pilot." He hesitated, regarding his brother with a bit of suspicion as something hit him. "Didn't you notice all the rough winds we've been getting?"

"As a matter of fact, no." Tamaki blinked, running a hand through his hair in bemusement. "I suppose I must've been too caught up with these rings or something."

"That's pretty scary. What if one of your passengers was calling for you and you didn't notice?"

"Who'd still be awake at this time of night?" Tamaki snorted. "Or, should I say, morning? Anyways, go ahead and have your chat with the pilot. I'm going to see if it's possible to put these things back together." And with that, he withdrew the brainteaser rings from his blazer and began working again, his tongue poking out slightly from between his lips, his brows furrowed in concentration. Kaoru was a bit put off by his brother's odd behavior, but Tamaki had a history of eccentric mood swings, so he just shrugged it off and opened the door to the cockpit.

The pilot was busy studying the instrument panel, but he looked up from his work upon hearing the door open and fixed the flight attendant with a beady glare. "Yes, what is it?"

Kaoru gave a polite cough. "Sorry to bother you. One of the travelers is concerned with all the air turbulence we're experiencing. Is there anything wrong?" his gaze was already roving across the flickering displays and controls, however, and his fingers twitched almost unconsciously.

The other man's expression softened and he sighed as he flicked a few bangs away from his visage. "There's nothing 'wrong', or so to speak. It seems as though we're caught in one of those infamous Pacific storms, that's all. Our weather radio was having some interference, so I wasn't able to see it coming. Anyways, I'm trying to get more altitude so that we can fly more smoothly above the storm, but it's proving difficult. These winds are stronger than I thought." He rubbed his nose, closing his eyes and exhaling heavily as he continued gloomily, "It doesn't help that I'm so tired, either."

"Really? I thought you guys are used to overnight flights," Kaoru commented, inching forwards to the control panel. The altitude indicator was worryingly unstable, he noted, but he pushed down the gnawing concern in his throat--the pilot didn't seem to notice.

"I'm not. The person who was originally supposed to pilot this flight suffered a heart attack. I'm just a backup, and I've never flown all-nighters before," he gave a tremendous yawn and stared blearily at the mountains of clouds ahead of him. "I had to fly over here just this morning from Hawaii and I think the jet lag's getting to me."

"Ah. I'm sorry about that. Is there...anything I could do?"

"I'd love some coffee," the pilot confessed, "but I doubt we have any."

Kaoru shook his head. "No, sorry. The customers would complain if they ever spilled any on themselves. It'd probably turn out to be like that MacDonald's lawsuit."

"Maybe a beer, then?"

The steward obediently withdrew said beverage from the cooler and handed it over, watching on idly as the pilot popped open the lid. "Are you sure you should be drinking right now?"

"I put the plane on autopilot. I need a break, anyways," the pilot said, taking a long swig. "The autopilot mechanisms these days are so precise some people even wonder why we still bother with human pilots."

"What? We'll always need--"

A particularly powerful gust slammed into the airplane, sending it reeling sharply to the right. Kaoru yelped as he was thrown to the side; he crashed against the wall and heard a few ominous beeps as his body crushed several of the more delicate switches behind him. But he didn't have time to think of the pain--he was far too busy staring in horror as the pilot's beer flew out his loose grasp. The man made a desperate grab for it, but it was too late, too fast. The can was knocked into the instrument panel, and liquid sprayed everywhere over the machinery. Both pilot and steward could only watch helplessly as the screens dimmed and lights flickered and sparks snapped and everything began to short-circuit. Kaoru felt his stomach lurch as the floor dipped a few inches, and he knew that they were already losing altitude. His next words just about summed up the precarious situation.

"Well, fuck."

...

Kaoru had been gone longer than he'd expected, and Hikaru was considering taking out his mp3 player again to cure his boredom. He was prevented from doing so, however, by his sister.

"Haruhi, I'd appreciate it if you'd let me go anytime soon," Hikaru said, trying to sound nonchalant. In reality, he was a bit worried. Haruhi wasn't a clingy person, but now she was so firmly attached to Hikaru's side he felt like he was wearing a human straitjacket. She was oddly jumpy, too, and kept twitching at the slightest noises. "What's up with you?"

"Didn't you hear that?" she asked in lieu of a proper reply. Hikaru blinked in puzzlement.

"Hear what? What's there to hear above the rumbling of the plane--" he was cut off when Haruhi emitted a little squeak and tightened her grip on his arm, causing him to wince reflexively. "Ow--what--?"

"Th--thun--" Haruhi stuttered, but she couldn't finish her answer. A loud grumble sounded, audible over even the constant growl of the airplane, and Haruhi shut her eyes as she flattened herself to her brother's side. And Hikaru understood. Haruhi was a cool girl, and not much could faze her. She was near fearless at times, really, and could face centipedes, ghosts, and snakes without batting an eye. But she had one latent weakness...

Hikaru reached across his sister's seat and slid open the window, despite Haruhi's weak protests. The sky outside was still as black as ever, but Hikaru occasionally recognized a fork of white lightning flickering across the clouds below. A thunderstorm. He closed the window and felt a small thrill of panic run through him at the sensation of wetness on his sleeve, and looked down to see Haruhi burying her face into his shoulder, tears leaking out between tightly-shut eyelids. "Hey," he began awkwardly, trying to draw her blanket more snugly around her shivering body. "It's all right. We're flying above it. It can't hurt you."

"No..." Haruhi whispered, wrapping herself thoroughly in the sheet. "Can't you hear it?"

"Hear what?" Hikaru asked, straining to hear her soft voice above the plane and the thunder.

"It's...getting louder."

...

"The plane's going down."

Those words echoed over and over again in Kaoru's head. For a second, he could only stare in pure disbelief at the pilot still struggling with the controls. The elder man turned back with a snarl, even as he continued wrestling with the malfunctioning machinery.

"Go and tell the passengers to prepare for a crash landing! You know the drill--hurry! I'm going to try and keep this thing as stable as I can."

At this command, the flight attendant started immediately towards the cockpit's exit. He hesitated for only a moment, one hand poised uncertainly on the doorknob, but the pilot's desperate cry of "go!" finally sent him through the port, to where the rows of travelers stared at him with fearful eyes. Kaoru swallowed past the lump in his throat and staggered to the central aisle, fighting to keep upright as the plane continued to shudder through each wave of stormy turbulence that slammed into it. All around him, people were murmuring in worry.

"Listen up!" he yelled, cupping his hands around his mouth to amplify his message. "The plane's going down. NO--SHUT UP!" at the expected surge of chaos following the fateful announcement, he had to bellow to make himself heard. "Everybody, keep calm! Follow my instructions; we will get through this, but you'll have to listen to me!"

In catastrophes, a herd's natural instinct is to panic. Without a voice of reason to look up to, ignorant members of the swarm were apt to wreak havoc in desperate fits to survive. But now, as commands were thrown about and directions were given by a leader figure of sorts, the group was compelled to quiet.

"There'll be a life vest underneath your seat," Kaoru explained, bending down to rip one out of the nearest compartment to demonstrate his point. "Take them out and put them on, but do not inflate them! There isn't enough room on the plane. Keep seated, fasten your seatbelt and move yourselves into the safety position. Bend your torso over--like this--and protect your neck and head with your arms--yes, like this."

Wild winds howled as they tore at the airplane from outside. Kaoru took but a second to glance out a window. The sky was dark outside, and steel-gray clouds crowded about the plane, completely enveloping it in a hoary sheath. Once in a while, lightning flashed to illuminate the dim area, drawing gasps and more than a few flinches from the highly-strung crowd. The steward tore his gaze forcibly from the foreboding scene and rushed to the nearest emergency exit, where Hikaru and Haruhi sat, staring at him with wide eyes.

"Kaoru, you're not--?!" Haruhi cried out, but the flight attendant cut her off, swiftly reaching down to yank the life jacket from underneath her seat. He thrust the packet onto her chest.

"C'mon, put this on, we don't have time."

"But--"

"Just do it," Hikaru snapped, leaning down to pull out his own life vest. His eyes widened, however, when his fingers closed on...nothing. The compartment was empty--he glanced up at Kaoru, who recognized his plight immediately, and cursed. Kaoru hesitated for only a second before ripping off his own life jacket and forcing it on Hikaru.

"Here, take this one. Don't move from your seat, just prepare for the crash."

"But you need one too!" Hikaru protested, even as Kaoru tightened the straps.

Kaoru just gave him a brief smile as he fully secured Hikaru's life jacket. "Don't worry about me, I can swim." From the corner of his eye, he could see Tamaki trying to calm the passengers at another emergency exit, his customarily happy expression replaced by one of grim seriousness. He focused back on Hikaru and Haruhi's pale faces and tapped on the emergency door. "All right, I have to hurry, so listen carefully. After the collision, we'll have to evacuate--open the port by pushing down on this red lever and pulling inwards. There should be an inflatable chute that'll automatically pop out once you open the door, but if that doesn't happen, there's a yellow tab on the bottom of the door frame. Pull that and it should appear." He racked his mind for any details he might have missed. "Lifeboats will be automatically released from the sides of the jet--make sure you get in one, you'll be safe once you get off the plane."

"Aren't you going to stay with us?" Haruhi asked desperately as she watched Kaoru start down the aisle again.

"I have to help the others," Kaoru shouted back, before taking off. Haruhi made a movement as if to grab his wrist, but stopped herself. Hikaru laid his hand on her back and pushed her down into the safety position, moving her arms up to guard her neck.

"Hikaru," she whispered, and when he glanced over to reassure her he could see her eyes were wide with terror, her body shivering, the horrified look on her face was that of a woman who knew the end was coming and there was absolutely nothing she could do about it.

Hikaru had opened his mouth to reply, even as his mind raced for something to say, but the plane slammed into the water and his world was ripped apart and he couldn't think of anything at all.

...

Tamaki gave a hiss as he picked himself up from where he'd been thrown against the wall at collision. His head throbbed--he must have hit it against a window or something--but the Frenchman ignored the pain as best he could and stumbled over to the emergency exit. His legs weren't functioning very well, but then again they had been crushed in an awkward position underneath his body after the crash.

"Are you okay?" he asked the passengers at the port. At their nods, he began to reach out to open the door, but was forced to stop and grab the nearest seat for support when the jet gave an almighty lurch. A cry of alarm rose from the travelers as the atmosphere of panic began to return to the scene, but at Tamaki's yell of "QUIET!", he was able to effectively shut the crowd up. The blond man stared out the windowpane, stunned by what he saw outside.

The weather had been worrying enough in the sky above the storm, but at sea level it was nothing short of catastrophic. Rain poured down like cascades, drumming against the airplane in a constant, ominous rhythm. Gigantic waves jutted up from the murky ocean, some easily more than ten feet tall, to roll the plane around in its fluid grasp. Thunder continued to rumble discordantly in the background, while lightning flashed at odd intervals, at an intensity that could momentarily blind.

Tamaki took a deep, shaky breath as he looked away and focused on the apprehensive faces before him. There was a moment of silence, when the steward tried to compose himself properly and think of what exactly to say, before Tamaki finally ordered, "All right, open the doors."

"You can't be serious!" came a cry from one of the passengers. "You expect us to go out in there?" There were murmurs of discontent following the outburst as more voyagers looked out the window and recoiled at what they found beyond. Tamaki gritted his teeth and glared at the crowd.

"Shut up!" Tamaki snarled, trying to capture the attention of the passengers again. "We can't stay in the plane--it'll sink, eventually. We have to get out. Look, I'm trying to help you, and you'll have to listen if you want to survive. Now...open the doors. Do it."

The crowd began to follow his directions, albeit a bit warily. Tamaki oversaw the process with a careful eye, and nodded in satisfaction when the first emergency exit opened and the large yellow slide was deployed. Upon hurrying over, he could see that the lifeboat was already bobbing precariously at the foot of the rubber chute. His stomach sank at the sight--it wasn't the most sturdy-looking craft, and it was obvious that it hadn't been designed to withstand storms. But its bright color would surely help rescuers' visibility and it was the best they could do at this time...

"All right, once you've opened the door, don't leave right away," Tamaki called, raising his voice so that everyone in the plane could hear him. "First of all, ladies should make sure they aren't wearing high heels--we don't want to puncture our boats. Second of all, before jumping down the chute, make sure to inflate your life vest at the port. Don't do it in the plane!" he reiterated sharply, seeing a few of the more skittish passengers reach for the tabs on their life jackets. "Third, do not take anything off the plane! We can't afford the extra weight--we'll be lucky if we get out of this with our lives. If you need to, take a blanket, but nothing more." He stopped as another wave crashed into the jet's flank, sending everybody rocking to the right with cries of surprise. Tamaki pulled himself upright yet again, wincing as he held his hands to a fresh bruise on his side--the collision had momentarily knocked the wind out of him, and he was most grateful when he heard another steward's voice ring out in command for him. It had to be Kaoru.

"You heard us. Get ready!"

For a couple of seconds, absolutely nobody moved. Finally, a few of the braver voyagers made their way to the emergency exits, taking only a moment to inflate their life vests before sliding outside. Tamaki watched them with apprehension tightening in his throat--he hoped he had done everything right. All of the flight attendants had rehearsed for a disaster in the extremely-unlikely event that one should occur, and yet...Tamaki had to say that there was definitely a world of difference between casual practice and the grim reality of disaster.

He released a breath he hadn't noticed he had been holding when the first venturers made it safely to the lifeboat. As if inspired by their success, more passengers began to cautiously move out of the plane, grabbing blankets to wrap around their necks and shoulders as a sad defense against the harsh winds and rains of the storm. Already the people on board the lifeboats were shivering and hunkering down with each other in huddled masses. He pressed himself to the window, hoping to get a glimpse of Kaoru or Haruhi or her brother.

The problem with the waves was that they kept pushing the lifeboats further from the airplane. A few of the earliest crafts had already drifted quite a distance from the plane, but Tamaki was a little heartened when he saw that everybody inside was wearing life jackets and clinging to the grasp holds on the sides of the boat. Despite their clear expressions of fear, they seemed to be safe enough for now. Meanwhile, the travelers still aboard the plane were having problems getting on a lifeboat once they reached the bottom of the chute. Even though the people on the boats made a massive effort to keep boat and slide connected, Tamaki could tell that their grip and footing were precarious at best.

Tamaki rushed through the aisles, helping passengers inflate their vests, distributing blankets and occasionally packages of food, as well as bottles of water from the coolers. Once in a while, when the jet reeled to the side from a particularly vicious surge, Tamaki was forced to abandon his attention from the refugees in favor of finding a stable handhold to hang on to and safely ride out the swell. He kept himself busy, not allowing himself to relax but for the short moments he spent staring out the windows, watching over the people on the chutes and on the boats, scanning the masses for a hint of red hair. He hoped his little brother was all right. Kaoru was assigned to take care of the bottom half of the plane while Tamaki had been designated for the upper rows, so they weren't necessarily supposed to meet. Nevertheless, Tamaki couldn't help but worry for his sibling--he knew Kaoru was a capable man who could take care of himself, yet...

There were fewer people left on the plane now, and Tamaki decided, after helping a stricken young lady jump down the chute, that it would soon be time for he himself to evacuate. He took a last look down the aisle, staggering a bit and clutching at the back of a chair to keep his balance when yet another wave hit. He could see that there was a small line of people waiting to exit the plane from the nearest port, but all of the seats were empty and the majority of the passengers seemed to be safely aboard the lifeboats already.

Another jolting of the airplane; Tamaki yelped as he fell over an armrest, but he righted himself almost immediately, groaning at the newfound pain in his ribs. Right, it was time to go. He pushed through the aisle and managed to find a chute that was less-occupied than the others. After gathering his wits and puffing up his life jacket, he stepped out of the plane.

A couple of seconds later, he found himself pulled into a crowded lifeboat by so many hands. "Thanks," Tamaki said breathlessly, privately amazed at how cooperative everyone was becoming. There was nothing like a catastrophe to unify people and highlight a common goal to survive. "Are you guys all right?"

As far as he could see, they were as all right as they could possibly be, considering their successful escape from a sinking plane and the fact that they were still caught in the middle of a violent Pacific storm. Slightly encouraged by the several faltering nods he received in response to his question, Tamaki turned his attention to the other lifeboats. His heartbeat quickened when he focused on a particular boat one port away.

He wasn't sure what exactly was the relationship between his brother and that odd look-alike Hikaru. He knew they were near-identical, and if they stood side-by-side Tamaki would be hard-pressed trying to figure out which was which. It was a very shameful fact to admit, and he knew it. After all, he had grown up with Kaoru all his life--what kind of brother was he, to not be able to tell his sibling apart from a stranger? He had noticed that Kaoru had been a bit more hesitant when speaking to him, ever since that meeting on the beach with Hikaru. There had been a barely-perceptible wall erected between them that day; it was obvious that Kaoru resented Tamaki's inability to recognize his own brother, and yet...

There was a redheaded man on the adjacent lifeboat, leaning dangerously over the rim of the boat to cling to the chute and allow passengers to further enter the craft. Tamaki watched, his pulse thudding loudly in his ears, and he knew without a doubt that it had to be Kaoru. And in that moment, he wanted absolutely nothing more than to be in that lifeboat and pull his little brother to safety. Forget about all the other passengers, what was Kaoru thinking, reaching out so far over the boat? And why the hell wasn't he wearing a life vest?

A massive swell suddenly rocked into the little boat, tilting all its occupants inside to a frightening angle so that a few of the people closer to the edge were almost thrown entirely off the boat, prompting the other refugees to tug them to a safer position. Tamaki let out a gasp of alarm, but his eyes were fixed on Kaoru, who had reeled from the wave's impact. His hands slipped from the rubbery surface of the slide, and Tamaki could see his golden eyes widen as he tried to scramble backwards into the security of the boat, but the wave's momentum was too great, and it was too late. With a surprised yelp, Kaoru slipped into the ocean.

"KAORU!" Tamaki found himself yelling his brother's name as he lunged forwards, ready to dive into the water himself and drag Kaoru to safety, but someone grabbed his wrist and tugged him forcibly back from the edge of the boat.

"Don't!"

"What the hell are you doing?" Tamaki cried, struggling against his captor's grip, scrabbling like a madman towards the sea. "Let go, damnit! That's my brother! That's my brother!"

"I know!" Haruhi said desperately, wrapping her arms tightly around the Frenchman's body, straining to keep him away from the water. "But you can't go in after him, you can't!"

"Shut up!" Tamaki snarled, whirling to face the younger girl, his face twisted with frantic rage. Haruhi stiffened upon meeting his gaze--his normally lucid blue eyes were now narrowed in fury, pupils dilated almost to slits. Tamaki fell silent for a second upon recognizing her, and his features softened momentarily. "Haruhi, let me go--that's my brother, that's Kaoru, I have to--"

"No!"

Kaoru continued to struggle to return to the boat, but the rolling waves kept pulling him under. Without the aid of a life vest, it was obvious that he was having trouble keeping afloat. It was true, he was a swimmer, but his clothes were bogging down his movements and the turbulent ocean water was hard to fight. Tamaki made a distressed noise in his throat and renewed his efforts against Haruhi's bearhug. "Kaoru! KAORU!"

But Tamaki wasn't the only one who had noticed Kaoru's fall. Another man had also stood up, hands clenching into fists at the sight of the steward's dilemma. Hikaru wasn't the type to look before his leapt, and he almost never took time to think over his possibilities--he just acted. However, a few clear thoughts flashed into his mind as he stared at Kaoru in the ocean.

First: that, yes, it was really Kaoru in the water. Kaoru who had posed as a lady when they first met, Kaoru who was a total failure when it came to constructing sand castles, Kaoru who had him constantly checking his emails waiting for a reply. Kaoru with his confusing smile and soft laughter, who was currently fighting for his life in the water.

Second: that Kaoru wasn't wearing a life jacket, as he'd given his to Hikaru. Who was safe in the lifeboat even as Kaoru was struggling not to drown.

Third: that Haruhi was busy restraining Tamaki.

Hikaru acted. He didn't notice how Haruhi screamed at the splash, or how her and Tamaki's roles were suddenly reversed as the Frenchman tried to prevent her from jumping in after her brother. He did notice, however, that the sea was icy-cold and the salt stung his eyes, but it didn't matter because Kaoru was just a little over twenty meters away and if Hikaru could just reach him...

"Kao--" he began, but a lick of water fell onto his face and he choked as the liquid slid into his mouth, salt burning down his throat. In retrospect, trying to talk while swimming wasn't exactly the smartest thing to do at this time, but common sense had never been Hikaru's forte. He gave it another try. "Kaoru!" It was surprisingly difficult to keep above the water, even with his life vest, and waves kept pushing him back from his goal. Hikaru hadn't swum since...high school, probably, and he could feel his energy draining away. Nevertheless, he continued clawing towards his friend.

Kaoru was still trying to make his way back to the lifeboats as well, but the waves kept sweeping him further away. Occasionally, he sank underwater when a considerably large surge overtook him, and Hikaru spent several frenzied seconds paddling towards the spot he was last seen before he eventually resurfaced, sputtering and greatly weakened. His eyes were clenched shut to keep out water, but when he finally opened them and stared at Hikaru, they were wide and desperate, the amber irises shot through with red.

Hikaru drew closer and Kaoru attempted to speak, grimacing when seawater entered his mouth. "Hikaru, what the--"

"Don't talk, just--" Hikaru made a face and spat out water before continuing, "hang on to me." He reached out to close the distance between them and felt unbelievably relieved when Kaoru's hands closed around his arm. He pulled the other man closer to him, curling an arm around Kaoru's shuddering shoulders and striking out back towards the now faraway lifeboats. His heart sank when he saw how distant they were--how did they drift so far and so quickly? He swam vainly towards the bright color of the boats, but already their vibrant yellow hue was fading in the fog that swept over the sea. Rain continued to drizzle down on the two exhausted men, pouring down their faces like tears.

"Hikaru," Kaoru said quietly, reaching out to grab his friend's free arm. Hikaru understood--his strength was almost fully depleted, and it would be useless to try and chase after the boats anymore, especially considering how they were no longer even in sight. He gave a growl of frustration, but stopped fighting the waves and instead wrapped both arms tightly around Kaoru, trusting in only his single life vest to keep them both afloat as he surrendered to the ocean and let the Pacific storm carry them where it would.

...

_author's notes_ - uhyeah. i realize the hika/kao romance is slow in coming, but i swear it's gonna get there. might even be a lemon in future chapters, though this is still a tentative guess--i absolutely fail at writing pron. 


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